Well, That Didn't Take Long

Sussexland and Thomas Markle deploy the same strategy: Briefing against their families via the Press

One proverb of anonymous origin observes, “There are only three certainties in life; The laws of physics, the laws of Murphy and death.” After the media briefs leaked to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s preferred publications this afternoon, I would like to nominate a fourth “certainty of life”:

The Sussexes cannot help themselves and engage in the very behavior they’ve complained at length publicly — using the press to brief against his family.

It was only two weeks ago Telegraph reporter Victoria Ward wrote that, according to a “source close to the couple”:

“They are done with their former lives. They’re not talking about family. There’s no expectation that the family’s going to show up or acknowledge it or that anybody wants to see him. It’s over.”

At the time, I hypothesized:

Old habits die hard, don’t they? Done with their formal lives but still repeating the same playbook. They cannot help themselves because they do not know what they want. Similarly to the funeral of the Queen, when the Sussexes complained about everything from his uniform, to which invitations they received, they are doing the same thing here. They have not learned a dang thing. And until they do, his family will continue to keep them at an arm’s length. The Duke and Duchess are doing exactly what they allege his family does to them on the regular. They cannot stop.

This afternoon, the Sussexes are reminding us how right I was: They can’t stop. They can’t help themselves briefing against his family.

Telegraph Brief: Harry Denied a Room

The brief provided to the Telegraph is your ideal Sussex leak.

• Prince Harry was “denied” a room at Windsor Castle when he was in the UK earlier this month.

• The “arrangement would have enabled him to easily visit his grandmother’s resting place at St George’s Chapel”.

• The Duke’s office first contacted Buckingham Palace after confirming his attendance at the WellChild Awards.

• Since the Sussexes were “evicted” from Frogmore Cottage, it means “they are now ‘homeless’” [….] when on UK soil.

• The Duke would love to see his father and stay with him if at all possible.

The article dispenses a blow-by-blow of specific details to the reader: Divulging remarks about Harry’s wants, Harry’s schedule, his state of mind/desire to “catch up” with his father, “concerns” about security, on and on.

I have to say, for someone exceedingly paranoid and has his hands full bringing action against several newspapers for illegal information gathering, if I were Harry, I’d be very alarmed by the amount of specific details The Telegraph has about my affairs. If I were him, I’d be alerting the proper authorities because it’s likely my devices and correspondence were being monitored. The article concedes King Charles offered Harry to come and stay at Balmoral. But as Harry was in town for just one night, traveling to Scotland made little logistical sense. So, Harry “requested” to stay at Windsor, which was denied due to the short notice of the ask:

Both sides acknowledged that it was simply not feasible given the timings. The Duke would have had to have flown to Scotland by helicopter or private jet and even then would have had minimal, if any, time with his father.

As with all Sussex briefings to the press, there is more to this than meets the eye. Firstly, flights to Aberdeen leave every 90 minutes from London and vice versa and it takes about two hours each way. If he wanted to see his Father, Harry could’ve easily flown on from Aberdeen to London to Dusseldorf. No helicopter or private jets were necessary.

Secondly, having been a royal for the vast majority of his life Harry knows, more than anyone, the schedule of a Monarch. During the Summer months, the Monarch decamps to Balmoral and the rest of the family makes the trek to see them. Weeks are then spent in Scottish sunshine shooting, fishing and mucking about in the woods. During this time, the private apartments and rooms in Crown properties like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, are covered and the public areas are let for public consumption and tours. These residences usually have the bare minimum of skeleton crews on site for emergencies. Preparing for a royal stay, even one for just a day, would mean bringing in staff, cooks, security, stablehands, etc. For just one night, the costs outweigh the benefits. None of this is unprecedented to Harry as he grew up within this system.

Thirdly, if Harry wanted to see his father, who advised him to only spend one day in England before jetting off to Dusseldorf? A Ward article which cites Sussex sources intent on letting everyone know that Harry “would love to see his father”? It rings insincere when Harry himself wouldn’t carve out time, by say, arriving a day or two before he has to leave to allow for time to “see his father”. As for this line below?:

“As such, he was forced to stay in a hotel for the night – which, having been stripped of his police protection, added a complicated security element”.

“Forced” to stay in a hotel for one night? The shame and inhumanity. Harry will forever be reminding us that, as a non-working Royal, he is not entitled to tax-payer funded security. He has resided in the United States for the past four years with private security. As far as we know (and Harry would be the first to tell), his security has not needed to discharge their weapons. The worst security breach on record seems to be the chase through Manhattan which turned out to be a nothingburger. But one night in England without armed Royal Protection Officers, that even celebrities like Paul McCartney and Adele are not entitled to, is enough to be classified as a “complicated security element”? What is exactly is “complicated” about it? That he doesn’t have the security he wants?

Harry’s recollections may be deficient, but the public record remembers. The Government (who the Prince has taken legal action again) has stated publicly that Harry has not been denied security: It is decided on a case-by-case basis. He still retains a certain level of monitoring as a estranged member of the Royal Family. What he does not have is RPO security by default wherever he goes, whenever he pleases. The Government requested that for all security arrangements, he and his team give 28-day notice before coming into country. At that point, security needs are assessed, and if deemed necessary, it will be provided at no cost to him. We know of this arrangement because Harry, via his lawyers, groused about it in court. [For more about his lawsuit with the government, read the post below]

Contrary to what Sussexland is putting out there, the King does not control who gets security. The brief to the Telegraph says Prince Harry’s office contacted Buckingham Palace. But did he contact the government to keep them apprised of his plans with the requested 28-day notice? And don’t get me started on Ward describing the Sussexes’s reality as “being homeless” when they come to UK. That she could type that with a straight face deserves an award.

Discounting the Prince’s multimillion pound trust left to him by his mother, Harry received a $20 million advance for his book, Spare. Remember Spare? The book which recounted the private, anguished moments between him and his family? The Sussexes aren’t “homeless” when they come to Britain. Harry just hasn’t made steps to buy a home in the UK after they were told to vacate Frogmore Cottage. The couple who released a statement about leaving the Royal Family to “gain financial freedom” is hinting they doesn’t want pay for a new home. Harry is saying wants one provided to him (more on that later).

The Telegraph briefing was similar to the one provided to The Sun yesterday, this time by Matt Wilkinson. If you’ll remember, Wilkinson was also the writer who received got the royal tea about the Sussexes not being invited to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s death with the family. [For background on this, read the post linked below:]

TLDR of The Sun article? Wilkinson says much of the same without the added histrionics regarding Harry being “homeless” in the UK. So now, in a span of 24 hours, we have one exclusive by Ward at The Telegraph and another one by Wilkinson at The Sun. Take a guess as to what these two reporters also have in common.

Ward and Wilkinson are the only Royal Rota reporters who covered the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf.

The Sussexes made a very big deal about eschewing the Royal Rota System and engaging with “grassroots media” when they announced they were stepping back. What we’ve seen in practice is the exact opposite.

In my opinion, the “exclusives” Ward and Wilkinson received were 100% in exchange for favorable and sympathetic coverage of the pair. The Sussex defenders online are quick to claim it’s Harry’s family leaking against them but I’ll quickly disabuse my readers of that belief. Remember the existence of a letter from King Charles to Meghan Markle which “leaked” to the Telegraph weeks before the Coronation? [If not, read the below post for some background]:

Similar logic applies here. King Charles and Queen Camilla were coming off of a very important State Visit to France. Their Majesties received rapturous applause, thousands of well-wishers for their engagements and the King got a standing ovation in the French Parliament after giving a speech, all in French! This State Visit was months in the making after it was postponed earlier this year due to dangerous riots in France. There is no reality which exists where King Charles, or his aides, want the distraction of “Poor, beleaguered, homeless Harry” to divert attention. Especially following such a successful visit, as seen in the front page of The Sun below.

The leak in The Sun and the brief in The Telegraph could only have come from the Sussexes. And it’s no coincidence the only two British journalists who were covering the Invictus Games in person were the ones to write these stories. Though, to be fair to Ward, she’s been doing a stellar job as their go-to journalist in the years following MEGXIT. An additional reason this did not come from Buckingham Palace? The King doesn't come out favorably to the Monarchists or Anti-Monarchists. He had no business extending invitation to his “traitor son” according to one camp or “The King is being petty” because Harry exposed him according to another. The only one who [thinks they] looks good here is Prince Harry/Sussexland.

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And when it rains, it indeed pours. Shortly after Ward’s story, Roya Nikkhah at The Times was briefed by sources “close to the Sussexes” asking: “If Charles can charm the French, why can’t he charm Harry and Meghan?” Can anyone say delulu? I’ll cover my favorite lines below because they definitely brought the laughs:

“The news, reported by The Sun, once again shows a King whose public work is widely admired but whose private problems continue to make headlines.” [If only some people would stop briefing to press and creating these headlines!]

“A source close to Charles said: “It frustrates him that personal issues intrude on the public duty. He’d much rather the focus was on his work, not the soap opera of the private life.” [You and me both, your Majesty.]

“His decision to keep Harry as a counsellor of state — one of seven members of the royal family who can deputise for the monarch if he is abroad or unwell — has created a dilemma. By law, counsellors of state are required to have a UK domicile but Harry has no home here after stepping back from official duties.” [As mentioned, Harry has no home here because Harry refuses to cough up the cash to purchase his own home. No one is stopping him from buying a flat in Chelsea.]

“According to well-placed royal sources, courtiers have discussed leasing a property on the royal estate to Harry and Meghan to try to resolve the counsellor-of-state conundrum. One option understood to have been considered is accommodation at Kensington Palace, where the Prince and Princess of Wales have a home and their private office. They spend few nights there, having moved their family to Windsor.” [Fanciful thinking. Harry and Meghan are not getting within 100 feet of where The Prince and Princess of Wales have residences]

On and on it goes:

A friend of Harry’s said the Sussexes would like another home here: “Not having anywhere isn’t overly helpful, there are friends and hotels but I know they would like to have somewhere.

“Meghan has decided that coming back more is not what she wants to do, but Harry would like to. Having a base in his home country, despite everything that has happened, is appealing. There is work to be done here in terms of the charities and there would be opportunities in the future where he’ll want to be here a bit more.

“If they could have kept Frogmore, they would have done, it was the perfect set-up for them. When he last stayed there, he did a whole load of clearing out and he was sanguine about it but pretty sad.”

If Charles was to offer Harry the use of a property within the secure perimeter of one of the royal estates, it would resolve the grey area around his role as a counsellor of state and also help to address the issue of the Sussexes’ security, which is subject to an ongoing legal challenge brought by Harry against the Home Office.

“A friend of Charles’s said: “The King can see that to remove Harry as a counsellor of state would be seen as an act of antagonism and he does not want to do that. If, as a consequence of that, somewhere on the royal estate needs to be earmarked as a pied-à-terre for his son, that seems a reasonable thing to do.”

The suggestion is hotly disputed by Buckingham Palace. A spokesman said: “These claims are not true.”

A pied-à-terre ear-marked for his son? This is what I imagine Prince Harry looks like briefing Nikkhah:

The Sussexes “would like” another home.

Not having [a free] home isn’t “overly helpful.”

Frogmore “was the perfect set-up”.

If the King were to “offer Harry the use of a property within the secure perimeter of the royal estates” it would “help address the issue of the Sussex’s security”.

Readers, are you reading between the lines? The Sussexes Sources close to the Sussexes aren’t maintaining they want to lease anything out of their pocket. They want to be given a property to “use” so that they do not have to front security costs. Frogmore was the “perfect set-up” for them because they weren’t paying anything on the home. Before they left for America, a deal was struck which allowed them to keep the lease on the property current without paying any rent despite the Palace promising they would be letting it out for “market rate”.

As always, Harry and Meghan want to, for lack of a more apt cliche, have their cake and eat it too. They want the titles for their children, the “Hybrid Working Model”, the Windsor abode ensconced in the shadow of a castle. They want it all and they want to call the shots. We’re quite a ways from their statement of early 2020 where they stated: “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent”.

You know what people do when they want a home? They purchase one. The Sussexes know all about this. They purchased a $14 million estate in Montecito and TMZ is reporting the not only are Sussexes are house hunting in Malibu but they’re in the end stages of purchasing an $8 million plot of land. And that’s not withstanding the extra $10 million that would be needed for construction on a home. Pleading “homelessness” when he’s in London in preposterous, nonsensical and obnoxiously spoiled. Harry is abode-less by choice because, in my opinion, he’s waiting for Pa to privately foot the bill.

According to a story in The Sun (also written by Wilkinson) late last year, King Charles “stopped taking” his son’s “phone calls begging for cash”. Harry reportedly “bombarded” the late Queen “with calls when she was put on light duties due to her worsening mobility,” which would mean this took place at some point since October 2021 when Her Majesty’s health crisis started.

“Harry is not as well off as people are led to believe. He was wanting money,” an insider told the paper. “The late Queen was always happy to speak with Harry but when he asked for money she said, ‘Why don’t you speak to your father?’

“Harry told her that Charles wasn’t taking his calls any more.

“When the Queen asked Charles what he was doing about it because she was fielding so many calls, he told her, ‘I’m not a bank.’”

Hold your (very expensive) horses here: Where has all the Sussexes’ money gone?

If you’ve been following the melodramatic Sussex story for the last few years then you would likely think that the couple is positively rolling in dosh thanks to the laundry list of deals they have signed since pitching up in the US. First came news of their Netflix contract, then their Spotify one [RIP], followed by Penguin Random House getting in on the action and securing Harry’s talents via a reported four-book, multi-title deal.

In March 2021, it emerged he had joined the C-suite at the billion-dollar company BetterUp as the Chief Impact Officer. While there has never been any indication of how much the Duke of Sussex (as he goes by on the company page) might be pocketing for the gig, or whether he is being paid in cash, shares or all the vegan power bars he can carry from the office kitchen, you’d have to imagine that the value of this deal is significant.

In December 2020 it emerged, via Oprah Winfrey’s Instagram account no less, that Meghan had ventured into the entrepreneurial world, putting money into Clevr, a vegan latte brand. The following year she had added ‘author’ to her CV by penning a children’s book (“semiliterate vanity project,” according to The Telegraph’s review) called The Bench.

In October 2021 the New York Times got the scoop that those go-getting Sussexes were having a crack at Wall Street too and had signed on as “impact partners” with a fintech asset manager called Ethic. Add all this up … carry the one … and it sounds like the couple has managed to earn themselves the sort of mountain of cash that should they fancy, they could dive into, Scrooge McDuck-style. In short, when it came to their new life in the US, it was definitely a case of ‘for richer.’

So, again: Where has all the money gone? Why is Harry briefing the press pleading homelessness in Britain? And why is Sussexland ignoring the obvious for why they haven’t been provided a, what’s it called — pied-à-terre? Could it have anything to do with them spending the past four years lobbing bomb after bomb at his family? The trust is completely gone. Not to mention, in the days before stepping down, Harry and Meghan, trailed by a photographer they commissioned, were taking photos and videos on Palace grounds without permission. A complaint was officially filed at the time but the the public saw those photos and videos on their Netflix documentary.

Nikkhah’s article above reads like one she wrote late last year where she spoke about how “sources close to the Sussexes were upset” about the “double standards” regarding how conflict was handled with Lady Susan Hussey.

The couple feel the royal family has shown double standards by instigating a reconciliation meeting between Ngozi Fulani, the charity boss, and Lady Susan Hussey, a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth. The latter made “unacceptable and deeply regrettable” comments about Fulani’s heritage last month, and Hussey offered her “sincere apologies” at last week’s meetings.

A source close to the Sussexes said: “Nothing like that was ever done when Harry and Meghan raised various concerns — no meeting, formal apology or taking responsibility or accountability. That is hard to swallow — 100 per cent yes they’d like to have a meeting.”

No such “meeting” occurred. Weeks later, another article was released by Nikkhah where she outlined, after being briefed by Sussex sources, why and how a Royal Reconciliation Summit should take place. In the article, she emphasized how important it was the Sussexes were given an audience and how hatchets needed to be buried, mere days after the publication of Spare. Fanciful, indeed. According to “royal insiders” peace talks were imminently planned!

A royal source, who has the King’s ear and who knows the Sussexes well, believes a reconciliation meeting will happen in the coming months and needs to take place before the coronation on Saturday, May 6. “It’s going to take flexibility on all sides, but it can be done, it’s fixable,” says the source. “It needs Harry over here, in the room with the King and Prince of Wales, a couple of other family members, some of ‘his people’ he trusts who always had his back, so he doesn’t think he’s being ambushed. Someone like Elf [Ed Lane Fox, Harry’s former private secretary] and Christopher [Lord Geidt, the late Queen’s former private secretary who advised the Sussexes].

Another well-placed royal source agrees: “They have to invite them in before the coronation, or it will become such a circus and distraction.”

The issue of titles for Harry and Meghan’s children is also unresolved. As children of the sovereign’s son, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, known as Lili, 1, are automatically now a prince and princess and entitled to be styled His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness, something Meghan previously claimed Archie would be denied because he was of mixed race. Harry and Meghan are understood to fear the King may strip Archie and Lili of their titles, after his reluctance immediately to recognise their elevated status after the Queen’s death. Four months on, they are still styled as “Master” and “Miss Mountbatten-Windsor” on the royal family’s website.

Heh.

A reconciliation was never in the cards. A reconciliation before the Coronation? Was never going to happen. All of this was wishful thinking by the Sussexes relayed to Nikkah. We saw what happened with the titles: The Sussexes forced the King’s hand and received the titles for their children but it wasn’t announced officially by the Palace.

The reason I enjoy covering the Sussexes is because they are so hilariously delusional. What they believe they are owned (a free home, titles), what they believe they should have authority over (press coverage and their own hybrid version Royalty), how they want to be perceived (influential, global humanitarians who are rich as hell)? All of it is both grandiose and contradictory. You cannot talk about a “freedom flight”, release mawkish statements about gaining financial independence, then plead homelessness three years later. You can’t claim you want to reconcile with your family, beg for things to “remain private between you and your father” in one breath then run to the press to provide a blow-by-blow of family drama in another. And you certainly can’t do that and be surprised your family wants nothing to do with you. You can’t be seen as an influential mover and shaker whilst releasing little content for all of your media contracts.

Thomas Markle, Meghan Markle’s father, gave an interview to Good Morning Britain this week where he again made a public plea to his daughter to speak to him (while providing the network with never before seen photos of Meghan as a child). In his staccato voice, halting here and there due to his complications from a stroke he had last year, he begged for reconciliation. He called Meghan’s treatment of him cruel and said he wanted to sit down with her and Harry and meet his grandchildren.

During Harry’s book tour for Spare, many defenders online said what Harry was doing (selling out his family) was actually admirable because “unlike the Palace, Harry wasn’t briefing to the press”. Harry, unlike the Palace, was “saying it from his mouth”. Well, how do we feel about what Thomas Markle is doing now? He isn’t leaking to the press. He’s going straight to the belly of the beast. Is what he’s doing “admirable”? Nope. It’s messy. It’s trashy. It’s emotional manipulation and it will not trigger any type of reconciliation. If anything, all it will do is harden the estrangement. Not unlike Prince Harry’s interviews for Spare and the Sussex’s briefs to the media about his family.

Like Thomas, the Sussexes are never going to stop. This is the norm now. As Thomas goes to to the press every so often, Harry and Meghan will brief the press, hoping against hope his family reaches out. And like Thomas, Harry is growing more and more desperate. Meghan, whether she realizes it or not, truly married a version of her own father.

The Sussex versus Royal Family drama is not done because the Sussexes cannot let go. I would love nothing more than to ignore them. But they keep reeling us in with the drama, the press briefings and the intricacies of their disagreements with his family. Because it’s all they have and they never wanted to leave. Harry’s family is unwilling to speak to him at any length, so, like Thomas, he uses the press as a way to try and force reconciliation. These stories are Harry’s way of signaling he wants compromise from Charles and William. He “wants to spend time in UK”. But to Harry, “compromise” means they give him whatever he wants and forget about what he's done.

Okay Harry. And what’s your part of the compromise? What are you offering in exchange for a free house and the ad-how tax-payer funded security? That readers, is the million dollar question.

Am I being too harsh? Are Harry and Thomas right in how they are handling this? Please tell me below and thanks for reading HRH RoyalTea!

-Lady Sinclair

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