One of my favorite stuffy Britishisms is “on manoeuvres,” meaning that person is simply out and about in a public fashion. Saying that someone is “on manoeuvres” lends an air of manipulation or performance to the acts in question. Well, the left-behind Windsors will be on manoeuvers next week, and it’s entirely because of Prince Harry. The Times of London declared that Harry will be back in London at the start of the week, and that he’ll probably be in town for most of the week. He’ll testify (“give evidence”) in his case against the Mail/ANL starting on Thursday, January 22. Please allow the Times to detail all of the furious, Scottish busywork the left-behinds have organized:

Prince Harry is expected to appear in court on Monday for the opening day of his case against Associated Newspapers. Later in the week he is expected to give evidence as part of the long-running case. It is the latest and, for now at least, the last in a series of legal battles for the prince against the press. He will join six other high-profile claimants including Sir Elton John, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and Sadie Frost, when he accuses the publishers of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday of illegal information gathering. The publisher has strenuously and repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

While he is making his appearance in court, his family will not be present to show their support. The King and the Prince of Wales will join other senior members of the royal family in adopting another oft-repeated family edict: keep calm and carry on.

The King is not expected to see his younger son while court proceedings are active and will instead carry out official duties 400 miles away in Scotland. It means that on Monday, Charles will be in the Throne Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh where he will be joined by John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, to host the Scottish Investment Forum. There will be talk of new technology and a chance for Charles to sample some local whisky: a bread-and-butter royal engagement. The Queen will join the King in Scotland and is expected to have her own engagements.

Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales will be on joint manoeuvres north of the border with engagements in Stirling and Falkirk, far away from the court action as Harry’s nine-week trial gets under way.

It is understood that there has been no contact between William and his brother for some time. One source suggested that “hell would have to freeze over” before the brothers were able to meet again.

If that’s the case, William and Kate’s engagement on Tuesday won’t offer any hope of relations thawing any time soon, when the Waleses head out on to an ice rink to meet members of the Team GB and Paralympics GB curling teams preparing for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in northern Italy.

Kate and William will be offered the chance to try their hand at curling, aligning themselves with one of Team GB’s most successful winter sports to date and one that has earned them six Olympic and two Paralympic medals so far.

On Thursday, as Harry’s trial gets under way and begins to hear the testimony of witnesses, William will be in Bristol to meet a finalist from his environmental Earthshot prize and to visit the University of Bristol’s Isambard-AI supercomputer where scientists hope to use its calculating power to help develop new drugs to combat heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer.

What William makes of his brother’s battle with the press will be kept to himself. Certainly, like his brother, William has also been known to complain when he feels it is necessary, notably over his feelings about the BBC in regards to Martin Bashir’s 1995 Panorama interview with his mother, Diana, which was obtained through deception.

Harry’s complaint is ongoing with the outcome set to unfold in the coming weeks. He will have his day in court and is expected to be seen in court on several days next week, and will also be attending private meetings relating to his charities during his visit to the UK.

[From The Times]

It’s a small thing, but I appreciate that they mentioned Prince William’s refusal to “never complain, never explain.” William complains all the time. William strikes secret deals with the press, William “explains” via sources constantly. The difference between the brothers is that Harry does things openly, that he calls the British tabloids to account in open court, that he calls out his dogsh-t family on television.

This is new: “One source suggested that ‘hell would have to freeze over’ before the brothers were able to meet again.” Man, back when Scooter King thought that Charles was going to die any minute, William was constantly talking about “banning” Harry from their father’s funeral and banning Harry from going here or there. Charles’s improved health status has changed William’s talking point – now it’s “hell would have to freeze over” before the brothers could meet. Bully’s new crisis manager has her work cut out for her if he’s still dropping those lines to Roya Nikkhah.

As for the other stuff… the left-behinds’ urgent busywork whenever Harry comes to town really is something to behold. They’re being so obvious about it too, it’s kind of hilarious?

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.