The Times had a lengthy piece this weekend about what else, the Sussex Return or the Reverse Sussexit or whatever we’re calling it (we need to workshop the name, I think). The British media is scrambling and, according to the Times, Team Sussex and Team Windsor are both being pretty chatty. My theory is that both sides are communicating with each other through the press, but we’ll see. The Times introduces a new royal designation which will probably get a lot of attention: “Private royals plus.” As in, we can retire the hand-wringing over “half-in royal” and now we’re going with “private royals plus.” The Sussexes can exist as “private royals” with commercial ventures, PLUS they can be included in some family events, just as long as Prince William doesn’t throw a violent temper tantrum. Some highlights from the Times:

The final decision to move: While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been privately discussing returning to the UK for a couple of years, the final decision was only made just before they told the King a week ago. The reason for the last-minute move, according to a source close to Harry and Meghan, was one of the “great equalisers of our nation”: school places. “They had to wait to be told whether or not their children had got in — just like many other people waiting in mid-August,” the source said. “They weren’t able to confirm their plans until very late in the day, because the school — rightly — works to their own timetable. There was no special treatment.”

The timing: “I thought I’d believe it when I see it,” said the source. “But actually the stars aligned: it’s perfect timing in terms of the children’s schooling, there appeared to be a good acting opportunity here [for Meghan], and also the draw of family — not just being closer to the King, but the Spencers [his uncle and aunts on the maternal side] with whom Harry is very close. He and his brother are not speaking, but there are other members of the royal family he remains close to.”

How long will the Sussexes stay? Two sources close to the Sussexes emphasised that they did not expect their return to the UK to be “for ever”. “It’ll be an extended period of time — it could be six months, it could be a year, it could be more — I don’t think even they know yet,” one of the sources said, adding that they are an “international couple”, with a home in Portugal as well as the house in Montecito. “They might suddenly go: ‘Why don’t we try Canada for a while? Why don’t we try Australia?’ It’s one of the great things about being private individuals [that they can live where they choose].” The duchess’s mother, Doria Ragland, 69, who has supported the family in California, plans to travel often to England, but is not moving herself.

Prince William’s little baby feelings: “William’s relationship with Harry is in cold storage and is not coming out any time soon, let alone [the relationship between] the Princess of Wales and Meghan,” said a royal source. “If those issues don’t heal, there’s a limit to how much they can be brought back into the royal fold.” Andrew Morton, Diana’s biographer, told Times Radio on Sunday that William was “deeply, deeply hurt” by what Harry said and wrote about him. “William felt utterly abandoned,” he said. “I think it’s going to take a long, long time for him to recover from that.”

Future-proofing Archie & Lili. “No doubt Harry wants to be nearer his father, but Meghan knows that having their children near the King now future-proofs them,” a royal source close to the couple said. “If the children know their grandfather, if they’re in his orbit, that is so much more than being over there in the US, and not knowing the King.”

The Sussex Brand: “They’ll also be watched like hawks for anything that looks like they’re trying to monetise their brand,” said a royal source. “The feeling has always been they can do that in Montecito, but not here. If they come over and do the Montecito playbook — doing deals and making money — in the Cotswolds … that’s not going to go down well.”

Private royals plus: The best case scenario, they added, would be for a back channel that allows both sides to co-ordinate: “It needs all sides to agree a template for ‘private royals plus’. It needs them to be much more ‘private’ than ‘working’, and be seen at family occasions, like Christmas at Sandringham. That requires William and Catherine to say ‘yes please’ and how on earth does that happen? Just saying it out loud sounds implausible.”

A rival court. A source close to the King said: “The Duke and Duchess keep asserting that they’re returning as private citizens, that they will do their own charity and commercial work but have no desire to return to the royal fold. Those are the reassurances they’ve given and we hope they’ll honour them. Hopefully, with their base back in the UK, there will be less of the bi-annual drama of will they or won’t they return, will they see the King, where will they stay?”

Security: The Times revealed yesterday that the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), a Whitehall body which weighs the threats posed to public figures, is now planning to restart a review of the duke’s claim. One source said that they suspect that the murder of the former MP Ann Widdecombe last month had “kicked them into gear” to review Harry’s security. Harry’s longstanding security adviser and friend, David Langdown, is understood to have put a team of British security staff together already, bringing in people he knows and trusts. He put out feelers with his team about a week ago, and is said to have looked at two locations: one near Oxford and a second between Bedford and Northampton. School runs and grocery shopping will present particular challenges. Private security staff cannot carry guns.

[From The Times]

I’ve avoided discussing the security situation thus far because I do not know what’s happening there and I do not trust RAVEC, the Home Office or anyone else over there. It does feel like yet another challenge from Harry to the British establishment/media: I dare you to play these stupid games over my family’s security. We’ll see if any of these challenges work.

“The feeling has always been they can do that in Montecito, but not here. If they come over and do the Montecito playbook — doing deals and making money — in the Cotswolds … that’s not going to go down well…” Funny how the past seven years are being rewritten before our eyes. It would shock the Windsors to discover that, actually, they threw constant tantrums over the Sussexes’ commercial work. And if they’re “private royals plus,” isn’t “commercial work” a huge part of that designation?? Otherwise they’re just non-working royals without an income (which is the point).

And LOL on “William felt utterly abandoned. I think it’s going to take a long, long time for him to recover from that.” We’re talking about a 44-year-old man and heir to the throne.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red, Backgrid.