Less than a day after the news broke about the Reverse Sussexit, the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at Balmoral with their children. The Wales family is known for putting in an appearance at Balmoral, nothing more and nothing less. They arrived last Thursday, and I would bet that the family will be out of Scotland by the end of business on Tuesday, if not earlier. Given the gigantic news about the Sussex family returning to the UK in a matter of days, the obvious headlines wrote themselves: “The Balmoral Summit,” where Prince William thrashes around, screaming his head off, all while Camilla and King Charles beat a hasty retreat to Birkhall. There’s probably some grouse shooting too. Well, “royal sources” told the Telegraph that any and all gossip about a Balmoral Summit is false. The left-behinds are barely even aware of Harry and Meghan, you see.

Whatever you do, don’t call it a summit. Or a crisis. The Royal family, locked away at Balmoral, as is tradition at this time of year, are there for their summer holiday. The King arrived on Tuesday, just in time for news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are moving back to Britain. The Wales, Edinburgh, Phillips and Tindall families have joined him there, with the Princess Royal and Sir Timothy Laurence completing the register. Whatever will they have to talk about? Photographs of working and non-working royals driving to the castle seem to show a harried set of senior royals dashing to discuss Prince Harry’s homecoming.

“There is no summit,” insisted multiple palace sources. “It’s their holiday.”

While it is true that there has been “no change of plans”, as one source put it, in light of the Sussexes’ news, it has necessarily changed the atmosphere.

“There has been a relatively short period of calm after years of drama and then serious illness,” another source said. “Balmoral is sort of sacred time for the family, especially because it is so associated with their memories of the late Queen and Prince Philip. They are together; it’s just a happy time. The fact that the world now seems to be watching for signs of drama … they understand why, but it’s not ideal.”

The car photos, in fact, showed the family driving to and from a shoot in Corgarff, near Balmoral. The Prince of Wales was seen driving his wife, while the King, the Princess Royal, Mike Tindall and the 18-year-old Earl of Wessex drove other cars. They will probably go to church together on Sunday, where some of the family will be photographed again.

Inside Balmoral, there is a packed programme of barbecues, walks, formal meals and dances. This week and weekend, there will be time for the family, including the King’s grandchildren, great-nieces and nephews, to let their hair down in the Scottish Highlands.

One source said that the topic of the Sussexes’ return had been discussed “of course”, but less as a strategic master plan and more as family gossip.

“It’s the topic you finally open up after killing as much time as you can to avoid it,” another claimed. “It’s hardly a summit, it’s Balmoral barbecue.”

There will be time, inevitably, for the King and Prince of Wales to talk properly. They are aligned on maintaining the status quo for the Sussexes: no working roles and no half-in, half-out. They are facing pressure to consider a “Sandringham Summit II”, to remind the Duke and Duchess of the terms “they signed up to”, as one former royal source puts it, in 2020.

Other advisers are more sanguine, believing it would be pointless. The palace has no jurisdiction over the Sussexes, as non-working royals, other than the conventions of family loyalty and decency the system relies on. Moreover, there is a reluctance to treat a transatlantic move as a crisis.

“This isn’t 2020,” cautioned one source. “It’s nowhere near as big [an issue] as people stepping back from all royal duty to make money.”

The King is said to have given assurances to his elder son and heir that he will prioritise the Royal family. There is an awareness, on the part of the King and future king, about how to protect the remaining working royals, whose daily duties are less lucrative and more arduous than those who have now left. There is a “collective feeling”, it is said, that the late Queen’s wishes – no half-in, half-out – should be followed.

“There was also a model for being a non-working royal, set by Zara, which the Sussexes didn’t want to follow,” said a source. “This is all new territory for everyone.”

[From The Telegraph]

It’s incredibly funny that the courtiers are in the rota WhatsApp, trying to say that of course the Sussexes have been discussed, but everyone feels very sanguine about everything. Please. That being said, my interpretation is more nuanced – I don’t think it’s a summit either, but not for lack of trying in William’s case. William would love nothing more than to have a summit so he can rage-shriek at his father and order the king to punish Harry and Meghan for daring to step foot on British soil. What I’m getting from this story is that Charles isn’t playing along with William’s melodramatic theatrics. Charles probably IS going back to Birkhall and forcing the rest of the family to handle Bill’s little baby tantrums. And yeah, everyone at Balmoral is talking about it. What a funny thing to lie about.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of the Sun.