Like Father, Like Son: King Charles DID Offer Harry a Room
King Charles and Prince Harry brief the press, squabbling over who said what, while Prince William minds his business
Hello Dear Readers,
Today’s newsletter’s a good one. And the discussion we’ll have should be a prerequisite to not only understanding the Royal family’s symbiotic relationship with the press but Prince Harry’s symbiotic relationship with them too. If you haven’t subscribed already, please do so below:
Now? Let’s not waste any time — Onto the Royal Tea! Let’s start with the Prince of Wales, Prince William who’s been out and about in May.
Earlier this month saw the release of the 2020-2023 Earthshot Prize Impact Report. There’s been a 55% increase in submissions, nearly half a million tons of C02e. emissions has been reduced, avoided or captured, £15 million pounds has been awarded to 15 winners and another £50 million pounds of extra funding has been catalyzed to finalists through Earthshot’s network of partners.
The Prince of Wales’s held investitures at Windsor honoring leaders of sport and social work in Britain.
This month Prince William also announced an annual cash injection that will provide every farmer on Duchy of Cornwall land with access to a 24/7 support helpline created especially for the farming community. This is very important as three people in the farming and agricultural industry take their own life every week, according to the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy. The three-year funding package will allow a Herefordshire-based charity to extend its reach to multiple generations working on at least 260 farms, no small feat. And related, the Prince launched a new mental health strategy for Duchy tenants with a specific focus on farmers and rural communities.
In his multi-day trip to the Isles of Sicily last week, the Duke of Cornwall (as he’s known up there) visited the site of the Duchy’s first homelessness project he’s personally putting up £3 million pounds in to build social housing.
Yesterday William hosted a garden party held at Buckingham Palace and invited his cousins Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to come along. And today he hosted another investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.
All of the events this month to me signal that William’s feeling more comfortable filling out his diary. Catherine, the Princess of Wales must either be improving or her treatment is stable enough that William feels comfortable doing more.
The Prince of Wales’s hit his stride after the turbulent start to the year. Though this newsletter isn’t about him. While he goes about minding his business, his father King Charles and brother Prince Harry are engaged in a briefing war reminiscent of the War of the Wales’s.
The Framework
In the lead up to Harry’s trip to the UK two weeks ago, the Sussexes dropped some pretty substantial bread crumbs in the press. This time a multiple-press approach was utilized. Team Sussex enlisted the help of both US and UK media to circulate the same message: “Prince Harry is doing everything he can to see his family but they aren’t giving him the time of day”. We mentioned the many stories leaked in the run up to the trip here in this newsletter below on 6 May.
Analysis: How the Sussexes Leverage the Invictus Games to Get Their Way
Hello Dear Readers. I have no pithy intro. Let’s get cracking with this newsletter. But first, if you haven’t already subscribed, what’re you waiting for? Tap the link below to subscribe so new newsletters are sent directly to your inbox. In 2023 of January during the
Not content with back-channel communications to the press, a day after I hit publish on the above newsletter, the Sussex camp did something we consider extraordinary. They released a statement to the press essentially speaking for the monarch:
“In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty's full programme. The Duke of course is understanding of his father's diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
I say extraordinary because it’s quite a precedent for someone outside of Buckingham Palace alerting the world to, not merely the King’s diary, but making a concerted effort to set the narrative that he was too busy. It’s one thing to get your digs in via anonymous sources in the press. But to build on that with an official statement? It’d be as if Prince Andrew released a statement about how he tried to meet with his mother when she was alive but her schedule was too full. The Sussex publicist couched this official briefing as a response to the “many inquiries and continued speculation” but that’s a tad difficult for me to believe.
There are many things the press and public speculate about the Sussexes and even more that they’re asked for comment on that they studiously ignore. Like say, for example, the very credible and distressing indications of crimes against humanity made by Survival International against the militant-grade rangers employed by Prince Harry’s charity, African Parks.
Prince Harry's Charity Facing MORE Torture Claims
Prince Harry became involved with African Parks seven years ago after a visit to Malawi to assist an elephant project. “What I see in the African Parks model is exactly what conservation should be about — putting people at the heart of the solution,” he has previously said.
What’s the endgame to releasing updates regarding King Charles’s dairy? From our newsletter earlier this month:
“Prince Harry’s using a charity and wounded warriors as a catalyst to force his family to interact with him. He, or his people with his express permission, are making the invitation public knowledge so when senior members of the Firm aren’t there, he can play the injured party, using the public furor to portray his family as not caring as much as he does about the armed forces. I can imagine the headlines the Duke of Sussex’s camp hope’ll materialize: “William SNUBS wounded servicemen and women”. The problem with this strategy highlights why there’s been a rift for nigh on six years now.”
Even though no other member of the British royal family has ever attended Invictus events apart from the inaugural Games in 2014, much was made about no one attending the event and how the King didn’t make time to see his son.
“King Charles Snubs Prince Harry Twice in One Day”
“King Charles 'snubbed' Prince Harry to reward senior peer who masterminded his Coronation”
“King Charles met with David Beckham after declining to see Prince Harry”
These are just a collection of articles written about an event that was supposed to be for wounded service men and women.
Harry came and went and the many headlines that followed did what they were primed to do with the help of the official and unofficial statements from the Sussex camp: Harry was painted in a pitiable light, alone without his family. And the Royal family? Portrayed as heinous, petty individuals who wouldn’t give a poor man the time of day.
Mission accomplished.
Harry’s official statement about the King’s diary made it seem like the only encumbrance to their meeting was King Charles’s busy schedule. But in the days following Harry’s visit, the first cracks in this one-sided narrative began showing almost immediately. It started with an intriguing media appearance by journalist Charlotte Griffiths who’d clearly been made aware of negotiations in the background between father and son. And thus began the media leaks from Buckingham Palace to push back on the narrative. All of this culminated in an obvious damage control leak by the Sussex camp yesterday. There’s now more than enough information to cast credible doubt on Prince Harry’s statement about his father being too busy to see him. As usual, recollections may vary.
King Charles’s Pushback
During an appearance on GB News on 7 May, Griffiths dropped a bomb.
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