Royals at War

by Dylan Howard

  William, Kate, and their three children’s home at Kensington Palace will increasingly become the base of the Royals, as the Queen and her administration sail slowly and regally into the sunset. William and Kate will take on more and more royal responsibilities as their children grow up and Charles himself starts to feel the strain of spending his time squashed into an airplane seat, eating rubbery chicken and petits fours, and groaning softly to himself, destined for yet another royal reception at an airport somewhere. Over the years, his occasional lapses into irascibility or impatience have been embarrassingly well documented, whether it be his hot mic gaffe in Klosters in 2003, groaning about what a “dreadful” man the BBC correspondent was, or being caught describing Chinese officials as “terrible old waxworks.”

  But Charles has already built a substantial legacy in Britain. He was making impassioned pleas for sustainability and climate-change awareness long before these subjects were discussed in the mainstream, let alone the height of fashion as they are now. He has been ridiculed for his beliefs, misjudged and pilloried for the breakdown of his marriage, and he has had to tolerate the abuse and denigration he received throughout the 1990s, following his divorce from Diana and then again after her death, all while raising their teenage sons.

  Since his marriage to Camilla, he has been rehabilitated in the public’s gaze, thanks in large part to his warm and loving relationship with his two sons. Shattered by the death of their mother, they turned to their father for comfort and support and found it in abundance. Burying his own complex and tormented feelings about Diana, encompassing a very human mélange of guilt, grief, anger, and love, Charles did his best with his boys, though he knew full well one was going to either usurp or succeed him—and the other was not going to have much of substance to do at all.

  This was always going to be a fatal imbalance in the relationship between William and Harry. Laudably, Diana did all she could to raise them as “normally” as possible, showering them equally with love and attention. But she couldn’t change their destinies, which couldn’t have been more different. From birth, Harry was “the spare:” barring an unthinkable series of deaths or calamities, his life was going to be spent in the shadows. William was going to be King.

  With the acrimonious departure of Harry and Meghan to live what is most likely to be a life reminiscent of Edward and Wallis Simpson, William’s young clan is settled, assured, and ready to take over the mantle of being Britain’s “first family.” King William’s steady, unflappable character will be supported by his loyal and devoted helpmeet, Queen Catherine, and their brood of young Princes and Princess, who look set to enjoy the kind of tranquil and secure childhood their father didn’t have.

  Many speculate that depending on timing, Charles may clear the way for his son to directly jump on the throne and begin the William epoch immediately, for the sake of the Royals’ long-term future. William knows this and typically is prepared. He has no doubt been discussing this scenario with Kate since their courtship. Secure in her love, wisdom, and steadfast loyalty, he has established a trusted, respected inner core of advisors and courtiers. The outwardly jovial, self-deprecating everyman is a shrewd and sharp strategizer and planner. He is experienced enough to know when successful leadership means lots of listening and learning.

  Whereas William’s future is set in stone, Harry has needed a purpose and direction. His tragedy was to be born an energetic, lively, and restless soul, at odds with his historical position in the family, number two son, the spare. This has caused him heartache and deep insecurity and unhappiness over the years. The only time Harry has been in his element and free to realize his vast potential was in the Army. But due to who he was, he was thwarted from engaging as fully as he would have liked. Much to his chagrin, he was destined to spend the rest of his life doing charity work (which he genuinely does love), travel (ditto), and the rest of the time, behaving badly. This was the downward spiral Harry was on before Meghan. The angry drunken Prince, the wayward lost soldier, the confused, fragile man with no idea who he was or, indeed, why he was.

  Meghan, as has been extensively explored, changed all that. Unlike Kate, who reinforced, supported, and understood William’s destiny from the outset and devoted herself to fitting into that narrative, Meghan offered Harry a way out. Whatever her motives may be, she shone a light in Harry’s world; she showed him it didn’t have to be this way.

  “Harry’s life was upended when his mother died,” said a source, explaining how the death of Diana led to his unique bond with Meghan. “It has helped, or hindered, his taste in women. He has always liked women who have strength and opinions of their own. This is the latest manifestation of his rebelliousness. But no one ever expected it would tear the monarchy apart, as it has.”

  In Meghan, Harry was excited to find a woman who, unlike his previous partners, was an old hand at celebrity and showbiz and knew only too well how to come a long way on a modest amount of innate talent. Harry was born into fame and global celebrity and came to loathe it. Meghan aspired to it and then came to weaponize it.

  “Image has always been everything to Meghan Markle,” said a friend. “It’s now more important for her than ever before because with the Queen’s money no longer pouring in, she needs income.”

  A former friend put it more bluntly: “Meghan has always been fascinated with the creation of a ‘brand.’ I do not believe she married Harry with that solely in mind, but it was a determining factor. In Harry, she found someone who was fragile—and who she could control and manipulate. She married two objects of desire. As Harry said before the wedding, what Meghan wants, Meghan gets—and he’s very, very keen on making her happy, I think to the detriment of himself.”

  For better or worse, Meghan showed Harry how he could isolate and exploit the millstone around his neck, his royalness, while living his “best life.” Together, they established themselves as an entirely new kind of Royal Family—untethered from the Firm. The tensions, conflicts, and differences between William’s vision of the future and theirs will create a new monarchy that we can’t imagine.

  Remarking on the uncharted territory, one source said: “Never before has a member of the British Royal Family been for sale—to cash in on their profiles. That’s what it actually is. When others have flirted with this, it has ended in disaster. Look at Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein. Sarah Ferguson. Even Princess Diana. One shady business deal and the House of Windsor could become, at a minimum, corrupted—or at worst it comes, crumbling down. This is the Queen, Prince Charles’, and Prince William’s worst fear—and was a key topic at the Sandringham summit of the Firm in January 2020, designed to decide the future role of the Sussexes. With Harry and Meghan on the loose, they’re susceptible to rogues and renegades. That strikes the fear of God into the Firm.” (The Duke’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender, produced a steady stream of criticism and eyebrow raising. Virginia Giuffre [then known by her maiden name Virginia Roberts] asserted that she had sex with the Duke on three occasions, including on a trip to London in 2001 when she was seventeen, and later in New York and on Epstein’s Little Saint James hideaway. She alleged Epstein paid her fifteen thousand dollars to have sex with the Duke in London. Flight logs show the Duke and Giuffre were in the places she alleges the sex happened. The Duke and Giuffre were also photographed together with the Duke’s arm around her waist and included Epstein’s alleged pimp, Ghislaine Maxwell, standing in the background. Prince Andrew also orchestrated a plan for Jeffrey Epstein to pay off nineteen thousand dollars’ worth of his ex-wife’s debt.)

  Germaine Greer, who in 2018 predicted Meghan would leave the Firm and take Harry with her, has, more recently, wondered aloud about Meghan’s motives. “All I can think is she’d better be in love,” she said in a recent interview. “If she’s been faking it all this time, oh boy, what misery.” She went on to opine: “If they escape from the jurisdiction of the Firm and they do things on their own initiativ
e, the outcome is likely to be disastrous.”

  Said one of this author’s sources: “This is all Meghan, I am convinced—remember Harry did say, ‘Whatever Meghan wants, Meghan gets.’ Meghan clearly wants to have her cake and eat it. There is absolutely no way Harry would disrespect his grandmother in such a way. Sadly, Meghan has completely removed him from family and friends. He is now surrounded by Meghan’s courtiers, helping to complete the ‘brainwashing.’ This will not end well, mark my words. It will end in divorce.”

  Of course, the less cynical explanation is that Meghan really does love Harry. Just because she’s a woman who is opinionated, sassy, sexy, and accomplished doesn’t mean she has a malicious intent. This woman has fought and struggled her way to success, despite truly awful family problems, poverty, and racial and gender prejudice. Leaving the Royal Family at a time of her choosing was simply what needed to be done. It upset the old gray suits at the Palace? Sorry, not sorry, as some would suggest. Meghan behaved in ways Harry simply didn’t dare. And he will be in thrall to this for the foreseeable future. She is his one survival strategy for his greatest dream—a life forever free of being a Royal. The Prince formerly known as a Prince.

  EPILOGUE

  Their bags might have been heavy, but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s spirits were light as they departed on a commercial flight from the United States to Canada on February 14.

  The casually dressed duo—Harry wore jeans, a gray sweater, and a cap, while Meghan rocked a striped button-down, a black cardigan, and black flats—were all smiles as they carried their own luggage and made their way to a waiting car.

  It had been less than two months since the couple shocked the world and reverberated through royal ranks with their plans to step back from their engagements and embark on a new life outside of Britain with their soon to be one-year-old son, Archie.

  On the surface, all seemed well.

  But Harry and Meghan were to soon realize cutting royal ties would take its most dramatic turn yet.

  ***

  A month before landing in Canada, while delivering a speech at a dinner for Sentebale, the HIV and AIDS charity he created in 2006 to honor the memory of his late mother, Princess Diana, in London on January 19, Harry took the opportunity to address attendees, “not as a Prince, or a Duke, but as Harry,” he said.

  The red-headed royal’s tone was unusually somber and emotional as he revealed that he and Meghan had “no choice” but to step down as senior members of the royal family.

  “When I lost my mum twenty-three years ago, you took me under your wing,” Harry told the captivated crowd. “The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. But there really was no other option.”

  A day earlier, the Queen had released a statement from Buckingham Palace announcing that the senior-most youngest royals had been essentially cut off from the royal family.

  The missive came after the couple expressed their desire to start splitting their time between the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. But the matriarch of the Windsors—staunch in tradition and values—was unwilling to let Harry and Meghan straddle the line between royals and commoners, so she effectively forced them out of the Firm completely.

  What’s more, Elizabeth delivered a strict edict: Harry and Meghan must pay back the Sovereign Grant money they spent on renovating their UK home, Frogmore Cottage, and she wanted the pair to start paying rent and upkeep for the estate, which they’d wanted to keep to use when Harry made trips to his home country.

  “Harry and Meghan were extremely hurt by the Queen’s decision to force them to step back even further than they had wanted,” said an insider.

  “They feel outed. But it’s one of those all-or-nothing situations, and Harry accepts that.”

  So, they soon adjusted to their new life—and what a life it was.

  Mille Fleur is a French Country–inspired five-bedroom house on Vancouver Island in Victoria that the couple has been borrowing from an unnamed billionaire. It was there where Meghan and Harry spent the holidays. Now, they began to settle into a routine with little Archie. According to reports, friends had also come from California to visit them, like former Suits costar Abigail Spencer and actor Janina Gavankar, who took a picture of Archie that they featured on their holiday card. Meghan also hosted longtime friend and trainer Heather Dorak for a girls’ weekend. Otherwise, the actress was spending most of her time at home with Archie and the nanny, and only headed out for walks or hikes when the weather allowed.

  But Meghan was soon to unleash her long-desired plan.

  ***

  Meghan had made it obvious she clearly had no plans to retreat into total obscurity. The glitter of Hollywood gold was calling—again. So, Meghan and Harry began to feast their eyes on a new home: a fifteen million dollar one in Malibu, California that would put them close to her mom, Doria Ragland.

  As the Firm had initially feared, the couple began to use Meghan’s Hollywood connections to stay in the Tinsel Town mix.

  “They are in touch with a number of LA power players and are looking forward to hosting dinner parties with the likes of George and Amal Clooney and big-time movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg,” said one insider, at the time.

  For Harry, he might not be used to paying his own way—but he was said to be looking forward to doing it for the first time in his life.

  “He didn’t even understand what a mortgage was until a few years ago,” joked one friend. “But he’ll be able to cope with financial independence.” (While he and Meghan will no longer receive public funds for royal duties, Harry’s dad, Prince Charles, will still offer monetary support, according to the palace.)

  Meghan was also said to be happy to teach him about what she considered to be “the real world.”

  “She doesn’t come from millions,” said the insider. “Meghan’s worked hard to get to where she is today.” There would seemingly be no shortage of moneymaking opportunities, either. Meghan signed a deal with Disney and did voice-over work for a film for Disney Nature, Elephants, to benefit the charity, Elephants Without Borders.

  “Meghan loves the idea of being the breadwinner,” noted another source. “She has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harry’s been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing, and directing in her free time.”

  It’s obvious: Together, Meghan and Harry could no doubt take Hollywood by storm.

  “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the Sussex’s can easily make millions—or even a billion—from being a brand,” said one source.

  What’s more, Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, predicted his former bosses’ youngest will likely shine outside of William’s shadow. “I doubt he’ll miss being a royal,” said Burrell. “Yes, he was born a prince, but his long-term ambition is to be known as a humanitarian, like his mother.”

  Said a source:

  Harry is determined to make it in Hollywood. Just as much as Meghan, he’ll focus on producing documentaries about charities but wants some screen time too. We’ll see him on camera, mostly as a spokesman. He’s not trying to be the next Brad Pitt or anything. He understands it’s a risky venture. Harry knows Hollywood is fickle. He wants to get things right from the beginning and if all goes well, he’ll use the exposure to shine a light on worthy causes. With Harry and Meghan, it’s not just about making a fast buck—there has to be a purpose behind their work.

  Within a few weeks of Harry and Meghan moving into their new Los Angeles home, the rebellious royals had already adopting a distinctly LA lifestyle: Harry had been enjoying the near-constant sunshine and had even taken up yoga. “After practicing a few times, he’s become an avid yogi,” an insider told Us Weekly.

  But before they could embark on California dreaming, there was one final official royal engagement.

  ***

  It certainly wasn’t the warmest of welcomes.

  Harry and Meghan were seated in the second row
at Westminster Abbey for the annual Commonwealth Service on March 9 when Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrived and headed to their own seats, situated directly in front of the rebellious couple.

  Though Meghan said hello and gave a quick wave, and Harry flashed a warm smile, Kate barely glanced in their direction. Harry’s brother, William, offered a quick head nod, then he and his wife turned their backs on Harry and Meghan and sat down.

  The tense reunion was a fitting end to Harry and Meghan’s farewell tour—and one that solidified the ongoing feud between the brothers and sisters-in-law. “There was definitely tension in the air,” an onlooked said. “It was really awkward.”

  It seemed their final appearance as royals couldn’t end soon enough for

  Meghan and Harry. “Meghan thought Kate might make more of an effort, but she didn’t,” said one onlooker, who added, “Their ‘Fab Four’ days are well and truly over.”

  Meghan wasn’t taking the ice-out too hard—because she had become used to it.

  Her brief return to the United Kingdom with Harry was met with mixed reactions: Their entrance at the Endeavor Fund Awards on March 5 was accompanied by raucous boos, but they got a standing ovation two nights later at the Mountbatten Festival of Music. Through it all, Meghan maintained a near-constant megawatt smile.

  “She looked and felt amazing,” said a friend. “She has no regrets and is looking forward to returning to her peaceful life in North America.”

  In fact, said an insider, she felt like she’s gotten the last laugh: “It was sweet revenge for Meghan to come back and be herself, and not have to do things the official royal way or tip-toe around anyone.”

  If that meant ruffling some royal feathers, so be it. She reportedly upstaged Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, by posting Instagram photos of her visit to the National Theatre the same day the Camilla gave a speech about domestic violence. “That was the final straw for Camilla,” added the source, who said that though Camilla has never been Meghan’s biggest fan, she couldn’t believe she stole her spotlight. “She was livid.”