We’ve been talking a lot about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and whether they’ll be forced out of the UK (exiled by Prince William) or whether they’ll seek a second home base in America willingly, because they’re tired of being trashed 24-7 by the British press and by members of their own family. I genuinely feel like the Sussexes are at a crossroads at the moment, and I don’t think their “six week break” from royal work is simply about “needing time off.” I think they’re making some larger decisions about their future.

All that being said, I wonder if Harry and Meghan had some advanced knowledge about how Prince Andrew’s sh-tshow was going to play out, because now the Sussexes look like geniuses for escaping the royal Christmas at Sandringham. They’ll be spending Christmas with Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mom, but no one knows if they’ll be in England or America or somewhere else entirely. I’ve thought this entire time that Harry and Meghan would end up doing *some* of the pre-Christmas activities, like the Buckingham Palace lunch about a week before Christmas. But maybe they’ll be skipping that too. I hope they do skip it after Andrew’s mess. So… in an effort to have some kind of story around the Sussexes in the wake of Prince Andrew’s trainwreck interview, we have this:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were urged to slow down by palace aides after not taking a full maternity leave and summer break, an insider claims. The pair have had a busy year with various engagements, the birth of baby Archie and a tour of southern Africa – sparking worry for those close to them.

An insider told the Sunday Telegraph they have been implored to “slow down” for months as “there was no maternity leave, there was no summer break”.

[From The Sun]

Basically, after weeks of hand-wringing about the Sussexes’ six-weeks “off,” the palace is now taking credit for it, saying that the Sussexes were basically ordered to take time off because they were working too much? I can’t even keep up at this point. I guess the point is that the Sussexes need to be criticized for something, anything. They work too much! They need to be lazy! Palace orders working royals to take a nap!

Also: a cute story about how Harry took Archie to a playgroup session. Meghan and Harry both attended a playgroup close to Frogmore Cottage and it was Harry’s first time at the group. Harry enjoyed himself and so did Archie.

Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.