As we heard yesterday, Queen Elizabeth II has agreed to the basic Sussexit plan: she’s approved of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepping down from full-time royal work, and she’s approved of them moving, however permanently or temporarily, to Canada. There are still many details to be worked out, and my guess is that they probably won’t be worked out entirely this week, especially the financial stuff, which will probably take a while to work out. This week, we’ll hear, for sure, about whether Harry and Meghan keep their Duke/Duchess titles as well as their HRHs. That will be interesting, because A) I kind of don’t think Harry and Meghan care about the HRHs and B) Prince Andrew was not striped of his dukedom or his HRH. Here’s some additional information about what went down at The Summit:
Meghan called in: Palace sources told PEOPLE that the Queen ordered Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles to meet at her country home on Monday in order to “talk things through.” Meghan was thought to have called in from Canada.
The Queen’s statement: Royal historian and biographer of the Queen, Robert Lacey, tells PEOPLE: “It was incredibly personal. I can’t recall a royal statement where one gets the sense so much of the Queen herself speaking. Using phrases like ‘my family and I’ is very moving. It clearly shows her wish to resolve everything.” Adds Ingrid Seward, the Queen’s biographer: “It’s deliberately very vague and doesn’t tell us much apart from Harry and Meghan have won the first round. I’ve never seen a statement like that in 30 years. It was very personal and sounds very sad.”
No Camilla, no Kate, only “heirs”: The Queen’s historic royal family summit on her Sandringham estate on Monday was an exclusive affair for the monarch and her heirs. The meeting, which lasted two-and-a-half hours, was held in the Queen’s country home in Sandringham, Norfolk. But not all senior members of the royal family took part in the Queen’s summit, as the only attendees present in the room were born members of the British royal family. Prince William’s wife Kate Middleton, Prince Charles’ wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and the Queen’s husband Prince Philip (who is officially retired) were not in attendance.
[From People Magazine]
Two-and-a-half hours… does not seem like long enough to work out everything. They probably spent most of that time just coming to terms with the fact that Harry would be leaving. Is it interesting or not that Kate and Camilla kept their distance? Camilla DGAF. Camilla is generally fond of Harry and Meghan, but she’s not going to get involved. But I think it’s incredibly interesting that Kate was not involved at all – this is an issue that affects her, just as the smear campaign against Meghan was directly tied to the embiggening campaign of Kate. Plus, those royal reporters spent years telling us that Kate and Harry had a special bond, and that he adores his niece and nephew. But I guess none of that matters now.
The Daily Mail’s Richard Kay had a lot of exclusive information about the meeting, which is funny because Kay is definitely known as a William AND a Charles guy – both leak a lot of sh-t to Kay, so Charles and William ran to Kay as soon as the meeting was over. It’s also funny because Kay emphasizes that Meghan was not allowed to “call in” because “no one knew for sure who else might have been listening in,” the source huffed to a tabloid journalist as the source spilled his guts about the Summit. So stupid. Kay says that Harry turned up to the meeting early so he could have one-on-one time with the Queen and talk to her face-to-face. Kay says the meeting was “calm.” For Prince Charles, the biggest sticking point is the financial aspect, “sources revealed that Prince Charles also views the matter far from concluded as he knows Harry will rely on his Duchy of Cornwall to meet family bills.” A “friend” told Kay that Charles “doesn’t have unlimited resources. Harry needs to know that.” Again, Harry reportedly has an inheritance of something like $40-50 million.
As for that curious joint statement issued by Harry and William yesterday, I did get it wrong – the joint statement wasn’t about William’s secondhand gaslighting quotes to the Sunday Times. The denial from the brothers was about a different Times story about how Harry felt “bullied” by William. The fact that Harry and William felt the need to deny it… well, that means it’s true.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
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