Last week, the Duchess of Sussex posted the Instagram Carousel That Brought Down A Nation. The carousel featured lovely photos from Meghan’s summer holiday with her family, including pics from their trip to Portugal and their stay at Althorp, the Spencer family’s ancestral home. There were a couple of photos I struggled to place – I thought maybe all of the pool photos were from Montecito, and I guessed that the lovely, scenic photos of a lake and Archie by a wooded area were possibly from Althorp. But as it turns out, the British media failed to see what was right in front of them: the Sussex family also spent time in Scotland this month!! LMAO.
Prince Harry has not yet taken his children to Balmoral, the private royal estate in Aberdeenshire that he has described as ‘simply paradise’. He has, however, secretly taken them to a remote Scottish island owned by a hedge fund tycoon.
The Daily Mail understands that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, stayed earlier this month on Tanera Mor. The private island is said to have inspired The Wicker Man, the cult 1973 film starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland.
Harry is thought to have previously visited the island, which was bought for £1.7million in 2017 by billionaire Ian Wace, co-founder of hedge fund giant Marshall Wace. When Wace, 63, bought Tanera Mor, the largest of the Summer Isles, it had a population of just five, who were outnumbered by crofters’ cottages in various stages of dereliction. But the 800-acre island has since been transformed by Wace, who has poured £100million into it, planting 100,000 trees, restoring a dozen properties and laying three miles of roads. He has also revived skills such as beekeeping. But perhaps the aspect which would have most appealed to Harry is that, by last year, more than half of the 1,000 guests Tanera had hosted were from the Taigh Mor Foundation.
It’s a charity which strives to bolster the wellbeing of those serving in the armed forces or emergency services. During their time on the isle, they restore buildings, harvest seaweed, fish for mackerel or work in the kitchens or gardens. A noted philanthropist, Wace has been friendly with Harry and his brother, Prince William, for years. Wace’s then wife, former model Saffron Aldridge, 57, bonded with Meghan, 44, after the US actress moved to Britain to live with Harry.
In 2019, the year after Meghan married the prince, Saffron and Wace joined the couple for a Cirque du Soleil performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Meghan, it was reported at the time, appreciated that Saffron was ‘a straight talker’. The women’s mutual interest in fashion also helped. Wace and Saffron split in 2023 and have since divorced but remain friends.
The Sussexes are believed to have travelled to Scotland from Northamptonshire, where they stayed with Earl and Countess Spencer at his ancestral home, Althorp. While there, they laid flowers at the grave of Harry’s mother, Diana. During the family’s trip to Britain, they also had tea with Harry’s father, King Charles, and stepmother, Queen Camilla, at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess said: ‘This is not something we would comment on.’
A spokesman for Wace also declined to comment.
It’s really amazing to me that the Sussexes were able to move around the UK without being tracked and photographed by the press and paparazzi. Like, I can only imagine the fury of those tabloid editors that they didn’t manage to get photos of Meghan and the children at any point – coming or going from Highgrove, their five days at Althorp, and now this, what sounds like several days in Scotland, at least. I love that they were able to visit with friends up in Scotland. What a lovely summer vacation they had.
This is another reminder of the Windsors’ creepy obsession with getting Harry (specifically) to Balmoral. For years now, they’ve tried to get Harry alone and isolated at Balmoral. Just minutes after QEII’s death in 2022, King Charles called Harry and told him that Meghan wasn’t welcome at Balmoral, and that he could not bring her. And now Richard Eden is all “Prince Harry has not yet taken his children to Balmoral.” The children have never been invited. Meghan has not been invited to Balmoral in years.
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram.
They’d hardly have gone to Balmoral anyway when it’s open to the public until early August, lol!
They certainly know some interesting people and what a great initiative. I am uncomfortable with whole islands and great swatches of the countryside being owned in this way but if you’re going to buy an island I do appreciate you trying to do some good with it.
I’d say the Archie pic is Althorp as the trees and metal railings in the background scream country estate deer park but the lake/loch pic is very Scottish.
yeah I saw “billionaire owned island” and thought “ugh” and then kept reading and it seems he’s at least giving back to the island and the military.
Those are going to be some well travelled children. Meghan prior to her marriage to Harry was very well travelled, happy they are keeping this tradition going for their children. One of the best ways to make sense of the world is to travel to see it.
LOL. The Windsors’ reactions to the Sussexes always remind me of a stingy spoiled kid with toys that everybody wants but that he just won’t share. IT’S MY ISLAND!!!!! Actually, it isn’t now and it never was. Dude, they can come and go as they please. Your little palaces are just encampments in the middle of traffic circles. Literally, Buckingham Palace sits at the hub of a very grand but very awkward traffic circle. If I had my choice, I would rather visit Althorp. And it says a lot about the Scots that nobody sold them out north of the border.
Of course, it’s interesting that the Sussexes were able to smeak past the press again. But what really strikes me is the respectful tone of this article…and from the DM, no less.
No “Meghan Markle,” but “Duchess of Sussex.” The children are Prince and Princess. No snark or swipes at Meghan’s personality and behavior. Not the slightest hint of a rant. What gives? Did someone get a warning? Or is the DM momentarily stunned by the Sussexes circle – tea with the king, guests at Althorp and now family friends with a UK billionaire.
I meant to say family visit at Althorp and guests of the billionaire, but I couldn’t edit in time. Maybe I’m too stunned, lol.
Yes!!! That stood out to me too and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop – something nefarious about this billionaire, etc. but besides the swipe at not going to Balmoral, it was overall pretty respectful which is….different, lol.
But I also wonder if this billionaire lent them his private plane and that’s part of how they were able to move undetected, since no one was tracking that plane for the Sussexes.
Yes, the shift in tone is so noticeable, very odd, can’t even speculate. Just …huh??????
How do you think the Daily Mail got this story in the end? Given the article includes a positive write up of the billionaire’s charity it makes me think it must have been him who leaked in exchange for this promotion.
If that’s the case, I hope Harry and Meghan are ok with their friend leaking about their whereabouts or at least got something in return rather than just being used.
Now that they’ve proven they can travel throughout the UK without incident, it will only fuel the argument that they don’t need security. But the bigger takeaway is who leaked this secret trip to the Mail?
The key though is that they were able to travel through the UK without incident in “complete secrecy.” Meghan didn’t make a single public appearance even though she had intended to. And you know if the press had found out about any of this (Highgrove, the Scotland trip etc) they would have been staking out all the roads and airports. So while I agree this will be used to refute their need for security, the reality is that with proper security, the press might have gotten the pics of Meghan they so desperately want.
That’s a nonsensical argument, because the reason their private security was able to keep them safe in the UK without arms or intel is that nobody knew the family’s location or movements until now. But, who knows, they may have also had support from local police forces.
And, as Harry’s risk and threat profile is likely to be higher than William’s (it always was), that argument would mean the lot of ’em should do without any protective security. Which would be ridiculous.
The problem with trying to push that narrative is that it always comes back to and they had to move in complete silence like spies, which no one should have to do to freely travel about the country.
And the fact that they are still trying to find out exactly what they did, where they went, and who they met with after the fact let’s you know that the media had zero intention of being respectful if they would have been more visible in public while they were there.
As for who leaked it, who knows but they at least leaked after they had already departed. They are bound to be seen, and I don’t reasonably expect people to never mention it, but much like the Portuguese press if they can wait until after they’re gone so that they can at least enjoy themselves while they’re there, small favors.
Ian Wace is the business partner of Sir Paul Marshall (look him up) and has many establishment contacts. Lots of scope for leaks. Still, at least these didn’t happen at a time when the Sussex family’s safety would have been put at risk.
“Now that they’ve proven they can travel throughout the UK without incident” is kind of a specious argument. All that’s been demonstrated, is they were able to manage it – this time. Reliance on the people they run into not to leak their location is hardly a permanent security strategy. Especially with the rapacious media on the lookout, their luck is likely to run out at some point.
Good on them. I like they’re keeping their kids faces off of social media. I have friends who have done/are doing the same. It’s not all that unusual for the “thinking people” crowd.
I kept my own son’s face off social media until he was around 16 and had his own accounts (he’s in his 20s now, so there wasn’t a rash of preschoolers having their own social media yet). I don’t know why the rats and derangers make such a big deal over it like she’s the only one ever to be doing that (except of course, by doing so she is denying them money and feet and feet of column inches to dissect their appearance and behavior, barf)
I wonder if the Daily Outrage is going to track down Will and Kate over the Summer?