Spencers lead Harry and William reconciliation efforts
Friends of Princess Diana’s birth family, the Spencers, have told The Daily Beast that Prince William agreeing to attend Robert Fellowes’ funeral service in the knowledge that Prince Harry would be there has “cast a glimmer of hope in an otherwise deeply depressing impasse.”
The clan are also “working hard to get the brothers to reconcile.”
One friend of the Spencers, one of Britain’s oldest and most noble aristocratic families, told The Daily Beast: “It was probably always going to be a funeral that brought the boys together under one roof, and the fact that William didn’t boycott it because Harry was going to be there has cast a glimmer of hope in an otherwise deeply depressing impasse.
“They both adore Jane [Princess Diana’s elder sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, Robert’s widow], and it’s absolutely right that they were both there out of respect to her. It’s an important recognition of the fact that blood is thicker than water. It’s a mature, promising sign that their private disagreements are not going be allowed to overshadow important family events.”
Another friend and neighbor of the Spencers told The Daily Beast: “Behind the scenes, the Spencers have been working hard to get the brothers to reconcile. They understand William’s hurt at Harry’s betrayal, but they also understand Harry’s position because of the way Diana was treated by the Windsors.”
Referring to Robert’s role as a key advisor and private secretary to the queen in the years before and after Diana’s death, which often set him in opposition to his wife’s birth family, the source said: “Robert and Jane had to navigate between those loyalties their whole life.”
The friend added: “Harry is still very close to his mother’s family. If anyone can mediate between the brothers it will be Jane.”
Both friends said they did not know if Harry had tried to speak to William either in person or by phone after the service for Robert. However, they said they thought it unlikely. It is understood that the most recent communication from Harry—a note wishing Princess Kate a speedy recovery from cancer—went unanswered by William and Kate.
Friends of William accuse Harry and his wife Meghan Markle of continuing to deliberately antagonize them, for example by refusing to call the Princess of Wales by her preferred name, Catherine.
Onlookers said the brothers stood apart from each other and did not talk at the service for Fellowes at St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, close to the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
Telling no tales
Much is being made of the fact that it was revealed last week that Harry is not adding any salacious new revelations to the paperback edition of Spare, due to be issued this fall.
This is being seen as a soothing and conciliatory action, with Richard Eden in the Daily Mail saying that Harry also swearing off a new round of media interviews to promote the book is also a bid to help calm troubled waters.
Now, the New York Post says that Harry and Meghan have also decided not to publish another book, despite having a deal to do so.
If that really happens, or rather doesn’t happen, it would indeed mark a significant step on the road to reconciliation, especially given Harry’s and Meghan’s veiled threats to keep publishing. Harry told one interviewer: “It could have been two books, put it that way.” Meghan told an interviewer for The Cut she could “say anything” after leaving the family.
“You are the Princess of Wales, you do not do things like that!”
Then-Prince Charles exploded at Princess Diana after she and Sarah Ferguson dressed up as policewomen at Prince Andrew’s bachelor party.
Her hairdresser Richard Dalton reveals this and much more in Diana memorabilia collector Renae Plant’s new book, It’s All About The Hair: My Decade With Diana, as reported by the Mail on Sunday. “Charles was not amused. The next morning he was screaming at her, really shouting. She was crying and he was yelling, ‘You are the Princess of Wales, you do not do things like that!’”
The other time Dalton heard Charles shout at Diana was when “she danced on stage at the Royal Opera House with Wayne Sleep as a surprise for Charles’ birthday. She danced to ‘Uptown Girl’ by Billy Joel and the crowd went wild. But Charles was furious.”
The late Queen Elizabeth was also “furious” when Diana tried an elaborate new hairdo at a State Opening of Parliament, scooping all the headlines the next day—from then on “Diana vowed her hair would never again be the centre of attention and distract people away from the work of the royals.”
Dalton, who styled Diana’s hair on every royal tour she did from 1983 to 1991, reveals how he would attach one tiara to Diana’s head using knicker elastic to prevent her getting headaches, and recalled washing her hair over his fairly unglamorous kitchen sink.
Dalton said Diana confided in him about all aspects of her life. “Being the keeper of such big secrets sometimes made me feel sick with stress. My job was to listen, help her feel beautiful and confident and bring a little of the real world into her world.”
She also loved eighties supersoap Dynasty and would make Dalton watch it if she couldn’t because of work commitments. “The next morning she’d say: ‘Tell me everything!’”
“The love she had for Charles was genuine. If only Camilla had stayed away after the marriage, things could have been so different.”
— Richard Dalton
She would listen to Dalton’s report with a packet of Opal Fruits (Starburst) her favorite confectionery, alongside “Nestlé white chocolate with crunchy bits in.”
“Diana was madly in love with her husband,” Dalton said. “I saw her day in and day out. The love she had for Charles was genuine. If only Camilla had stayed away after the marriage, things could have been so different.”
“People ask me if I kept a lock of her hair,” Dalton added. “I never did. It didn’t occur to me. I only have one photograph of us together and that was one someone happened to get as we exited a plane. It was a different era. There were no cell phones.”
The plans for Harry’s return to royal life
Is he coming back? As reported by The Daily Beast yesterday, Prince Harry has sought the advice of former aides to facilitate some kind of return to royal life, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Sources emphasized that Harry and wife Meghan Markle are not seeking a permanent return from California; the paper also revealed that, following the departure of chief of staff Josh Kettler, the Sussexes had also recently parted ways with another American PR adviser, Christine Weil Schirmer.
“Harry is turning away from all sorts of Hollywood publicists and is seeking counsel from his old friends and associates,” a source told the paper. “He is clearly reaching out thinking, ‘I need to do something different because what I’m doing is clearly not working.’ In short, he is rethinking the way he operates.”
The Mail says one adviser is a trusted figure “from the old school” known for loyalty and discretion. One friend has devised a plan Harry’s return, carrying out “very low-key royal duties.”
A source said the friend believes “if Harry comes back to the UK with zero fuss, and does zero publicity and attends very mundane events, he could prove himself and win over the British public again. He would have to accept, though, that he might be reduced to ribbon cutting for a long period. But it would give him purpose to work again.”
All this would only happen “if certain members of the family could find it in themselves to allow it.”
Holiday time
King Charles looked spry Saturday as he arrived to the sound of his beloved bagpipes at a flower show in Aberdeen.
The Telegraph reported that Charles, who was wearing a kilt, was guest of honor at the Royal Horticultural Society of Aberdeen’s 200th Summer Flower Show, in Duthie Park, Aberdeen.
Charles is on vacation in Scotland, but The Daily Beast has exclusively revealed that he is not staying at Balmoral Castle with his visiting family, instead basing himself at his own home, Birkhall, where he is relaxing by painting and gardening.
This week in royal history
On Sept. 6 1997, the funeral of Princess Diana took place.
Unanswered questions
How receptive are the royals, and specifically Prince William, to Prince Harry’s reported efforts to ingratiate himself back into the Firm?
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