Harry meeting the king just now

[Justanotherdramalama]

I think he's going cap in hand to ask for money. I really hope he's not got the nerve to ask to come back!

It's all getting a bit silly now - he said, he said and all made up by the press.

Charles won’t be desperate to get A and SF off the front pages at all, it’s very helpful to him getting A out of Royal Lodge for a start.

The leaks obviously started from Camp Montecito but disappointingly BP have responded. They would have done better not to engage at all, just quietly move forward with the plan, whatever that is.

I think the palace responded (and I think they were right to) because the narrative that Harry was going to be welcomed back as a working Royal, and was the preferred son compared to William, was gaining increasing momentum and coverage. It started weeks ago (clearly initiated by the Sussexes) and after the meeting was ramping up.

I think the Palace had to shut it down, partly to reemphasise there was not going to be a wind back on the HIHO position, but also because it’s damaging if there’s claims gaining legs about a rift between William and Charles, who need to be seen to be very united.

I agree, the Sussex’s have been leaking constantly since the meeting, it’s really bad, constant articles about Harry coming back kids going to school here, Megan also visiting, father and some appearing at a public event together, Charles going to invictus, it was a lot of spin for one brief meeting. A lot.

i think it just shows how desperate Harry and Megan now are, they’ve done a 180 from the whole freedom flight running for their lives thing, they were making so much of this meeting to say they now had the connections again thay the palace has had to step in and put a stop to it.

they are not getting half in half out, they will need to accept that. And if they wish forgiveness and back at least in the fold, they need to stop all this leaking and spinning to try to bolster their reps. It is having the opposite effect. They just can’t seem to stop.

and they need to remember the palace has a v good relationship with the media, they will know exactly where the leaks are coming from. They know this isn’t the media making shit up, but Harry and Megan behind it and planting these stories.

I agree the stream of leaks make H
look desperate. It seems clear now that H wants to spend much more time at home and talk of educating his dcs in England suggests he’s not loving the California lifestyle. It does seem though that there’s no way back for him to royal duties so I wonder what his next move will be when it’s clear this PR push hasn’t worked.

I agree , the palace were right to step in and put a stop to the leaks and speculation.

I would agree IF BP’s response had been briefer and more direct, but engaging through more leaks just adds fuel to the fire. They could have put on a public show of unity with William to scotch that rumour, and sent out a dignified one line statement requesting privacy and stating that the position re H’s role as a working royal remained unchanged. I think that’s what would have happened under QE2.

The “he said, they said” tactics are sinking to Montecito levels. Not a good look.

The press have obviously made up what they think may have happened in the meeting, inorder to goad H into a response. It’s worked and H looks like an idiot again.

It’s not made up though is it. As factually the gifts were correct, s photo and s birthday present. And past that nothing is actually said about what happened in the meeting itself or what was discussed. This is simply Harry has been spinning it as the great return of the prodigal son, and to such a huge extent the palace have had to step in and confirm Harry and Megan will not be either working royals or half in half out but that Charles is open to private meetings. As well as pointing out it is Harry and Megan themselves jeapordisinf that with all the press briefings and spin.

I do think the comments about H treating the meeting with the King like the signing of the treaty of Versailles quite funny.

Yes, very funny. Trouble is he won’t know what the Treaty of Versailles is!

Yes, that was my thought

It was definitely the best quote of the whole sorry business. If they had left it at that, it could have been another “recollections may vary”.

I can see both positions on "whether the palace should have spoken", but the main thing which seems very clear is that there just isn't a steady hand on the tiller any more, far less any sensible judgement

In fairness I expected it when Charles took over, but even I didn't think it would get as bad as this

To be fair to Charles I think continuing the tactic of just letting them get on with it has been the right one. But when Harry started making comments that undermine the institution then Charles needed to step in and would have looked weak if he hadn’t. Recollections may vary came after a public interview - there was no doubt what had been said by whom, and it needed countering. It’s harder to counter deniable leaking but again I think he had to do something when Harry started on William and the relationship between monarch and heir. Harry is so stupid, yet another chance to improve his situation gone begging because he can’t keep his trap shut.

Charles is an elderly man who is sick . Really, he should step aside and hand over to William now. Have a few years with Camilla,
enjoying some proper time off. Camilla is looking f increasingly frail and sees often to be ill these days.

To be fair to Charles I think continuing the tactic of just letting them get on with it has been the right one

I agree, @NormaMajors1992coat - not that he can stop them from across an ocean - but for me it's more about what he's done over what they have got on with

It seems many agree there's little point expecting any kind of rationality from Harry, and left to his own devices he just goes on and on stamping what's left of his own credibility into the ground, so I'm not sure there's even any need for the palace to make comments which will only goad Harry still further and give the whole mess more oxygen

While I've no great faith in William he surely can't be any worse than this, so I agree, Letmeoutodhere

With Charles's illness he's naturally restricted from doing a full job - no post-coronation Commonwealth tour for example, though for years he prioritised his middle east visits above them anyway - but he'd waited a lifetime for the job, presumably still wanted it and here we are

This really seems like Harry’s Ratner moment .

The bit about H giving his dad a picture of Meghan is most definitely made up. That’s the bit that got all the clicks for the media(as they knew it would).

The ridiculous pomposity of that statement never grows old, does it?

It said a pic of all 4 of them, I didn’t see anything saying a pic of just Megan, and a pic of all four of them is easily misconstrued If say the source says it was a family photo. Either way it was a framed photo, and that was accurate. The fact it was just the kids doesn’t really mean it was made up

While I disagree with KCIII on a number of things (and probably more if I ever had the chance to speak with him!) I do feel sorry for him.

It was always going to be difficult to follow the longest-reigning and well-loved monarch. Starting the job you've been waiting all your life for at the age of 73 is hard. Trying to do it unwell, with a family rift, and an heir who is much more popular than you must be a thankless task.

The whole thing is just really sad. I don't think this is any deeper than Harry being utterly, completely lost and adrift without his former life, living in a parallel universe. He's been coddled and looked after and institutionalized in royal palaces, buffered and protected and supported and cleaned-up-after all his life. He's not a fully fledged adult (none of them are). None of them have to go through cause and effect until they do, and then they lash out and get pouty and defensive.

He's spent the years since they left finally realising that he needs help from sources other than his wife. Hence Meredith Maines. But she's his employee. She will follow instructions. She also only has him to liaise with; she doesn't know what to advise and counsel him re what BP might or is responding with as she's not from that world. If Harry tells her "this meeting with Daddy is a really big step, it's massive, it's going to open a door for me getting back into the family and who knows where that might lead: we could finally find a way to remain in California but forge closer links to my family and my traditions and my country. This could be it, Meredith, it really could - we should go for it! And we have to because once Daddy's gone there's no way Wills is going to do anything for me - let's do it", she's going to do as her boss instructs. Especially if the boss's wife is encouraging that narrative for her own and her family's commercial benefit.

It all shows thatHarry remarkably still doesn't grasp the consequences of his actions 5 years ago. He's just not an adult. He's accusing the men in grey of sabotaging him: he's sabotaging himself by telling the press the day after meeting his dad that he has no regrets about the things he said in his book and that his conscience is clear. It's such a solipsistic thought process that we normal people struggle to understand just how a person can think like this.

A very insightful observation, @Mylovelygreendress. Spare was another one. He’s running out of feet in which to shoot himself.