Prince William’s seething at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Despite several ‘warnings’, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest bombshell move has further ‘infuriated’ Prince William @Getty Images for The Archewell Foundation
In perhaps the longest dance of hokey pokey we’ve ever witnessed, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle continue to puzzle their fans and critics alike with one question: Are they in? Or are they out… of royal life?
After stepping down as senior working royals in January 2020, the Sussexes have continued to pursue ‘quasi royal’ tours to Colombia and Nigeria and have had no qualms in continuing to make millions in profit from their royal monikers.
In fact, despite Meghan’s life as a working royal lasting just 20 months following her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, the Duchess of Sussex has adopted ‘Sussex’ as her last name; goes by the name ‘Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’ in both her business endeavours and social media and has created an official monogram, which consists of an ‘M’ topped with a crown.
And Meghan, 44 and Harry, 41, hit headlines again earlier this week when celebrity psychologist Angela Pearl shared a letter, embellished with the regal monogram as part of the letterhead that the Sussexes had sent to her.
In the letter, included in a since deleted social media post, the Sussexes thank Australian-based Angela for her participation at an unknown event, adding that they are ‘look[ing] to visit Australia again’.
Now a source tells us how, in the midst of their ongoing royal feud, the couple are making their tour a ‘priority’ for next year.
An insider tells us, ‘They have been wanting to go back to Australia for a while now, they’d love to take Archie and Lily. It’s a place that holds a lot of special memories for them, it was the first royal tour they ever did and Meghan was pregnant with Archie when they were there, so taking the kids back would be very meaningful.
‘And, it’s such a gorgeous place, who doesn’t want to go? The only issue is finding the time in their schedules. But they are saying it’s a priority for next year, ideally in the first quarter.’
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Meghan and Harry first visited the country back in 2018, and used the occasion to announce Meghan’s pregnancy with Archie, now six.
But while they were met with adulation, Australian news outlets have reported that the couple may face a much chillier reception this time around. Not only has their popularity been dwindling globally, as per numerous polls, but former Vanity Fair editor and royal author Tina Brown later revealed how Meghan had ‘hated’ the tour, and not understood the ‘point of it’.
Another royal author and the former royal correspondent for The Times, Valentine Low, also alleged that Meghan commented, ‘I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this’ during their visit.
And now a source tells us that Prince William himself – who is reported to remain ‘furious’ over the Sussexes’ monetisation of their royal status – is at the forefront of ensuring that any ‘fraudulent’ tour made by Meghan and Harry is not a success.
‘No doubt they will be treated like visiting royalty and that is not sitting well with William, he is seething,’ the insider says.
‘He sees that kind of thing as fraudulent and now that he’s aware they are planning this trip down under he will be reaching out to all his contacts there to let his feelings be known, you can count on that.
‘He doesn’t see it as being vindictive, he’s just protecting the interests of the Crown. He’s sure that’s why they want to do this trip now, while they can still use their titles and get all those perks.’
The brothers’ latest ‘feud’ comes just a week after it was reported that William and the Royal Family had been ‘surprised’ by Harry’s visit to Canada, which his team insist they were made aware of.
Making matters a whole lot worse, Harry’s trip came at the exact same time that William landed in Brazil to host the Earthshot Prize – meaning any publicity given to Harry overshadowed all of the hard work William had put into his eco-initiative.
‘William, along with the whole staff on the palace comms team, was left enraged last week,’ the source tells us now.
‘Meanwhile Harry doesn’t understand. He finds it pretty sad that his brother is taking issue with him supporting soldiers, people who have fought for the Commonwealth.’
But after the very public stripping of the titles of Harry’s disgraced uncle, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, last month, we’ve previously reported that Harry could be on borrowed time when it comes to keeping his own royal status.
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While the letter released via Buckingham Palace was written on behalf of King Charles, William is widely reported to have been pivotal to the harsh stance that was taken.
And the source warns that if Harry continues to rile his brother, he could soon be facing the same fate.
They tell us, ‘Harry and Meghan’s actions have now all just inflamed things more and made William more resolute in his plan to strip them of their titles. His brother and step-sister are no longer royals as far as William is concerned and as soon as he can pull it off they won’t have their titles.’Meanwhile we’re told that the palace’s reaction to his trip has ‘spurred’ Harry on to continue these visits and ‘push back when William tries to assert control’ – a decision, the source adds, that is wholly supported by Meghan, who has already put the cogs in motion to use the trip to further promote her own endeavours.
‘No doubt Meghan will be all for it as well, she’s always behind Harry standing up to his family and especially to his brother, she’ll be encouraging this independence,’ the insider says.
‘She’s also got her own reasons for wanting to visit Australia. She’s looking to expand her sales internationally and she’ll be applying for all sorts of trademarks in Australia if she hasn’t already.
'Ideally she would like to launch there soon, so making the trip and building up excitement is crucial. She’s already started reaching out to contacts there, she wants to get introduced to the right people – she's very strategic.’
However, it doesn’t stop there. After schmoozing with the A-listers at Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday party last weekend, the source says that Harry is planning to launch a major charm offensive on one Australian celebrity family in particular – even if it means stepping on William’s toes.
‘Harry has a list of contacts he wants to hit up, and in particular the Irwins. He doesn’t care one bit that William has roped keen environmentalist Robert [Irwin] into working on his charity; he won’t let that stop him from paying the family a visit,’ the insider says.
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