Again, in the 72-hour period of Queen Elizabeth II falling ill, passing away and King Charles taking over, the institution of the monarchy was almost solely focused on smearing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. QEII passed away on a Thursday. All of the biggest headlines on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were about how Prince Harry had to charter a plane up to Balmoral, how Meghan didn’t travel with him, how Charles called Harry to berate him over his plan to fly up with Meghan, how Charles told Harry that Meghan was unwelcome, how palace aides were furious and aghast that Harry would want to travel with his beloved wife. It was one of the grossest, most ridiculous and ill-timed smear campaigns – instead of focusing solely on QEII and her legacy, we were getting endless leaks from two royal courts, William’s court and Charles’s court. Those two men were bizarrely focused on the Sussexes rather than QEII.
At some point, William and Chuck realized that their messy campaign actually looked grotesque and cruel, so then they changed tack and tried to play it like Harry insulted them by not dining with them. Nevermind the fact that absolutely NO ONE can get their stories straight about who told what to Harry and when, and we still don’t know if Charles actually informed Harry about QEII’s passing before the family announced it. Well, now the Telegraph has an exhaustive timeline of events and guess what? They can’t even figure out parts of what happened that day, September 8th. Some highlights:
The Sussexes were enjoying that trip before the news about QEII: The Sussexes were fresh from a one-day trip to Dusseldorf on Tuesday, considered by their team and fans to be a triumph. Photos showed a rapturous welcome for a red-carpet walkabout. They looked happy and relaxed. The security arrangements seemed to go without a hitch, with the bonus of a Luftwaffe jet to and from the UK to prove their point about being internationally important persons. They even managed to squeeze in some “private” events, including an on-stage interview starring both Harry and Meghan, with a host and microphones, in the middle of a spotlit football stadium. (“Does ‘private’ now just mean ‘you’ll have to watch it on Netflix?’ ” one journalist was heard to quip, after footage emerged on social media.)
Charles didn’t seem to know about QEII’s health on Wednesday night: If some members of the family had known that the Queen’s health had taken a downturn the night before, Harry had not received that call. Prince Charles was hosting a dinner at Dumfries House, seemingly unaware that anything was badly amiss. The Duchess of Cornwall was making her way painstakingly back to Scotland from engagements down south, via Heathrow delays.
How much time did Charles wait in between calling William & Harry? Prince Charles telephoned both Prince William and Prince Harry to ask them to come. “There was no difference in those calls,” one source insisted, denying reports that the elder was told “some time” before the younger. “This is a father and his much-loved sons.”
Kate staying behind in Windsor: The Duke of Cambridge, whose constitutional duties as one of the Queen’s Counsellors of State blended with his role as a grandson, made a hastily-formed plan with the Duchess, agreeing that she would be best placed to meet their three children from their first full day at their new school and explain what was happening in a way they could understand.
Meghan was forced to stay home because Kate was staying back: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be travelling to Scotland,” their spokeswoman said, a little before 2pm. As it happened, she would not go. The confusion, The Telegraph understands, was the result not of a pushy Duchess and in-laws who didn’t want her there, but logistics. Assuming the situation to be not unlike what would have happened had the Queen died while Harry was in California, their team thought she would fly with him for support. By the time Prince Harry spoke to his father again, it became clear that spouses, including the Duchess of Cambridge, were not going. “It was just a mistake,” said a source familiar with how the day unfolded. “This wasn’t about causing or taking offence, it was simply the protocol and they [the Sussexes] were always going to respect that.” “The lie of the land was made clear,” said another, simply.
When & how did Harry hear of QEII’s passing? Prince Harry, on a plane, was initially said to have found out that his grandmother had died via a phone call from his father, “five minutes” before landing. The Telegraph has since been told that the phone call did not go through. While he knew his father was trying to get in touch with him, it was said last night, the Prince read a breaking news announcement online before they could work the technology to speak. A spokesman for the now-King has insisted the announcement of the Queen’s death “was not made until all family members had been informed”. “The official announcement was delayed until after everybody had been told,” a source said. “Part of the issue was getting hold of the Duke of Sussex.”
Whether Harry refused a dinner invitation: In one account – staunchly denied by several people yesterday – a furious Prince Harry “snubbed” dinner at his father’s nearby home at Birkhall with the new King and Prince of Wales. In another, Princes Charles and William had already left for Birkhall by the time Harry arrived. “No invitation to dinner was made,” one source insisted. “This is all less co-ordinated and more chaotic than people might think,” a different royal source added candidly. “It was a hard and upsetting day for everyone.”
[From The Telegraph]
“By the time Prince Harry spoke to his father again, it became clear that spouses, including the Duchess of Cambridge, were not going.” For the last time, the Countess of Wessex was there. Sophie traveled in the same plane and same car as William, Andrew and Edward. Initially, the palace sources made a big deal about how Meghan should have known that it was “family only,” as if Harry isn’t her family, as if she isn’t mother to two of King Charles’s grandchildren. This whole idea that there’s any kind of g–damn “protocol” about which spouses count as family and which spouses don’t count as family is absurd, offensive and racist. In any case, it’s absolutely clear from the smears aimed at Harry and Meghan that the entire controversy was actually about William and Kate, and how Kate got left behind in Windsor. If Meghan had gone with Harry to Balmoral, the conversation would have been “so why didn’t Kate go?” Nevermind that Kate genuinely had a good excuse – it was her kids’ first day of school, of course she would want to be with her children. But it looks like William threw a huge tantrum about how his brother’s supportive, loving marriage would reflect poorly on his own cold, stilted marriage.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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