About fourteen months ago, Prince Harry met with his father, brother and grandmother at Sandringham for the “summit” which would figure out Harry and Meghan’s future roles in the Firm. The Sussexes offered a half-in/half-out approach which would see them live outside of the UK for part of the year, earn a living and pursue commercial ventures, all while fulfilling their royal work and keeping one foot in the UK. That was flatly rejected very early in the Sandringham Summit. The Queen apparently told Harry that he was either in or out and Harry chose out. During that same summit, I’ve always believed that William pursued his own ultimatum with his father and grandmother: back me and let’s push out Harry. There was so much talk of Charles being so saddened to see Harry go, but honestly, William had largely orchestrated the entire f–king mess, and William was the one forcing his father and grandmother to “choose.” I bring this up because there are a couple of shady stories about Charles now and I just… wonder what William’s up to.

Prince Charles “took the lead” over the Royal Family’s response to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s bombshell interview, an expert says. The Firm were said to be locked in crisis talks after the couple made a string of sensational claims in the tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan, 39, accused an unnamed royal of raising “concerns” about Archie’s “skin colour” before he was born. The Queen then released a statement almost two days after the chat saying the claims would be taken “very seriously”.

But royal expert Robert Jobson says Charles may have led discussions on how best to respond to the allegations. Writing for Hello! magazine, he said: “I think the Prince of Wales has also taken the lead on how the Palace has responded. The Queen is 94 and the Duke of Edinburgh is incapacitated, so he will be trying to placate and learn lessons from this so something can be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction. The royal family like to do things as a team, and if the team is being trashed they like to react as a unit and a family.”

[From The Sun]

It’s possible Charles has taken the lead on this and that’s why everything went sideways from the jump. I think it’s far more likely that Charles believes he’s taking the lead on this but the Queen and her courtiers have another agenda, and then the amateur hour clown show over at Kensington Palace keeps creating problems too. Speaking of, People Magazine has a story about how Charles’ relationships with his sons have always been more strained than other father-son relationships. Ya think?

Prince Charles doesn’t have a “straightforward father-son relationship” with Prince William and Prince Harry. Prince Harry revealed in his interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month that his father had stopped taking his calls at one point amid his and Meghan Markle’s royal exit. While Charles and Harry spoke over the phone last weekend, sources say the relationship between Prince Charles and his sons has been complex for years.

“There has always been this complicated relationship with their dad,” a palace source tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. In addition to Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s painful divorce and consequent marriage to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who he had an affair with during his relationship with Diana, Prince Charles controls the money.

“It’s not a straightforward father-son relationship,” the palace source adds. “He is their father and their boss, and they are beholden to him to fund their offices and lives.”

A close insider says, “Tension between Charles and the boys has always surrounded money, because Charles is the one who holds all the power.”

Through his lucrative Duchy of Cornwall estate, which generates an income of nearly $30 million a year, Charles funds his own official office along with William and Kate Middleton’s. He previously funded Harry and Meghan Markle’s office as well.

[From People]

“Charles is the one who holds all the power…” Who said that?? I doubt even Charles would say that! Charles has more power than people realize and Charles wields the power of the purse over his two sons more than we realize, but make no mistake… William has a lot of power over his father and grandmother. William is the wild card, the rage monster, the holy terror who terrifies his grandmother and father. While Charles finances William and Kate’s keen adventures right now, when the Queen passes, William will take over the Duchy of Cornwall and then he’ll have so much money and power too. William gets whatever he wants from his father right now anyway. Charles literally cut off his youngest son to make William happy. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid and WENN.