Mystery over Harry’s royal residence request
The controversy around Prince Harry’s visit to the U.K. earlier this week—and being apparently iced out by his family—has become a war of words and interpretations, the U.K. Sunday Times reports. The paper says Harry asked if he could stay in a royal residence when he was in the U.K. His father King Charles is said to have agreed to the request, but then Harry ended up staying in a hotel for three days.
Harry was “deeply stung” by not seeing Charles, the paper said. A friend of Harry’s said: “It surprises me a lot. I was fully expecting them to meet. I know that’s what he wanted to happen and I don’t know when he’s next back.”
Given staying in a royal residence may have made seeing his dad a little easier, the paper says, the mystery adds another intriguing layer to an already puzzling week of who said and did what when it came to father and son not seeing each other, with Harry releasing a statement saying it was down to his father’s busy diary, and other “priorities.”
On Wednesday they both held different public events, with Harry overseeing a 10th birthday celebration for the Invictus Games at St. Paul’s Cathedral (no royals present, but there were some of Princess Diana’s family, including her brother Earl Spencer). Meanwhile, at Buckingham Palace, just two miles away, King Charles hosted the Palace’s first garden party of the year, with all working royals—except Prince William and Kate Middleton—in attendance. Sources told The Daily Beast that Harry was being ruthlessly put in his place by his dad and family.
In full, Harry’s extremely pointed statement about not seeing his father read: “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 program. The duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
Friends of Harry tell the Sunday Times he had asked to see Charles well in advance of the trip, indicating that he must give 28 days’ notice of any plans to visit the U.K. Friends of Charles tell the paper that Harry “neither requested to see his father nor invited him to attend the service at St Paul’s.”
However, sources close to Harry spoke of their “bemusement” that Charles couldn’t make time to see Harry, given that—despite his cancer treatment—he had a relatively full week of other engagements.
“It’s all very sad,” a friend of Charles told the Sunday Times. “While it is true that the king is understandably wary about meeting with Harry, given the publicity circus that seems to surround all such visits, he did of course agree to see his son at the most vulnerable moment of his illness [in February], and at very short notice.
“While he was hardly going to roll out the red carpet the moment this Invictus trip was announced, with doctors advising him to focus on his treatment and recovery, the idea that he refused to find space in his diary … well, let’s say recollections may vary once again,” (echoing the famous phrase of the late Queen Elizabeth following Harry and Meghan Markle’s revelations in their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview.)
A friend of Harry’s told the Sunday Times: “I can’t imagine that request [from Harry to Charles] fell through the gaps. Even if they didn’t get a request, which I don’t believe, could His Majesty not have made a request to see his son? It was widely known he was coming.”
Meghan says Nigeria is “my country”
After Harry’s rough few days in London, his and Meghan Markle’s Nigeria tour is progressing much more positively, with many smiles, cheering crowds, and positive headlines. Hello! reported that Meghan had spoken of her “very chatty, sweet children”—Archie, 5 and Lilibet, 2—at a Women in Leadership event she was co-hosting with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization.
Meghan, who has described herself as 43 percent Nigerian, said, “I love being a mum,” and of being in TV drama Suits, added, “Bonnie Hammer, who runs NBCUniversal, was a huge mentor, remains a huge mentor to me. And I remember having the good fortune at the time that she invited me to have breakfast and I thought this was just the biggest deal in the world. And I asked her that exact question. I said, ‘How do you find the balance?’ And she said, ‘You don’t, you’ll never find the balance.’” (Hammer is on the Board of Directors of The Daily Beast’s parent company, IAC.)
“And this was before I was married, before I had children, before all the things in my life have certainly had a plot twist. And it struck me and it stayed with me for a long time because you say, ‘Well how can you be so successful? And she’s a mother as well and she’s married and say that you’ll never find the balance? What does life feel like if it’s imbalanced?’ What I think that to mean now is that that balance will always change for you. That balance, what seems balanced ten years ago is going to shift. And so being a mum has always been a dream of mine. And I’m so fortunate that we have two beautiful, healthy, very chatty sweet children.”
Harry and Meghan are on a three-day visit to the country—their first official international tour since exiting their senior royal roles in 2020.
Meghan was asked at the event how she felt about being Nigerian: “Well, firstly, thank you all so much for being here. I am just flattered and honored and inspired. It has been a whirlwind 24 hours since we arrived, and I very quickly got the memo than I need to wear more color, so I can fit in with all of you in your incredible fashion. I am very overwhelmed. So I want to start by saying thank you very much for just how gracious you’ve all been in welcoming my husband and I to this country, my country.”
Harry and Meghan have received warm receptions at events they have attended—whether visiting a school, attending a sitting volleyball game featuring wounded veterans, and having lunch with the country’s defense minister.
New BFFs: David Beckham and King Charles
David Beckham met King Charles at the latter’s country home, Highgrove, to talk about his sustainable charity work—and their shared love of beekeeping, the Sun reports. A source told the paper: “The King and David Beckham have really bonded over their similar interests.”
Charles, who met Becks last year at an event, talked about his work with the King’s Foundation charity. Beckham bought the king a jar of home-made honey, which delighted Charles as he has own hives. “We shall have to do a swap,” Charles reportedly told the famous footballer. The Friday meeting was also striking, happening so soon after Harry was told his dad was too busy to see him days before.
This week in royal history
On May 12, 1937, the coronation of George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father, took place. On May, 15, 1536 Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was put on trial (accused of treason and adultery), and was executed on May 19. On May 15, 1981, Zara Phillips, Princess Anne’s daughter, was born.
Unanswered questions
Will Harry and Meghan’s Nigeria trip, and the warm reception they have received, make up for Harry’s freeze-out by the rest of the royals in the U.K. a few days before? What is the state of relations between Charles and Harry?
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