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Will Harry and Meghan visit the queen with Lilibet?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly suggested they could soon fly to the U.K. to introduce the queen to their second child, Lilibet, the Sun on Sunday reports. If true, and if the trip happens, it would be Meghan’s first trip back to the U.K. since the couple left in the spring of 2020.
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The problem with this sunny-sounding plan is: well, like, everything. First, there was that explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which the couple claimed a senior royal family member had queried the color of then-unborn Archie’s skin. The identity of the “royal racist” remains unknown. Meghan also claimed she had felt suicidal, and had had no support within the palace as she faced grave mental health issues.
Then there was the row overt the naming of Lilibet, which devolved into a they said-palace said brouhaha about whether the queen had been asked by the couple about the use of her family nickname. There is also the not-insignificant issue of Harry’s upcoming memoir, and what further royal family dirty linen he will wash in it.
As previously reported, the queen is reportedly getting “lawyered up” to counter any more claims by the couple. Playing happy families would seem to require a few rictus smiles and a lot of patience—and really, a bout of collective temporary amnesia might help—if such a visit went ahead.
A source told the Sun on Sunday: “Harry and Meghan have made this offer but a lot of people are shocked by the sheer nerve of it. They may genuinely want to see the Queen but it’s breathtaking given what they’ve put her through this year. Her Majesty’s staff have not responded so far. In fact there has also been discussion about Christmas—and whether an invitation should be sent to Harry and Meghan, after they spurned one last year.
“The Queen is still very fond of Harry, and would love to see Lilibet and her brother Archie. But courtiers are surprised by the move, especially from Meghan, after what has happened.”
So far, Buckingham Palace and Harry and Meghan’s representatives have remained silent over the report.
Mole hunt after queen’s death plans revealed
The queen, 95 and counting, is alive and well, but planning for the day of her demise, codenamed Operation London Bridge, goes on.
Government and palace sources have reacted with predictable anger after those plans were leaked to Politico this week. One government source told the Telegraph: “It’s insensitive because it isn’t long since the queen lost her husband—it’s rude and it is entirely unnecessary.”
Many of the details of what will happen on the queen’s death were previously published in a compelling Guardian article in 2017, but even that report didn’t include details of official government plans.
The newly revealed documents lay out the precise logistics for each of the ten days between the queen’s death (codenamed D-day) and burial (D-Day+10).
The up to date nature of the documents is shown by their mention of the difficulty of accommodating vast numbers of foreign tourists if the queen should die during the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the new revelations: D-Day will see flags lowered to half mast within a strict 10-minute window of the public announcement of HM’s death. King Charles will give a televised address to the nation at 6pm that day before departing on a whistlestop tour of the U.K. And the day of the queen’s funeral will be a day of public mourning, but will not be a public holiday.
Charles adviser steps down in scandal
“King Charles” seems a very far off concept this weekend, as an ever-mushrooming scandal swirls around the future monarch.
The Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday report that his closest aide Michael Fawcett—best-known for squeezing Charles’ toothpaste out of the tube for him when he was the prince’s assistant valet—has temporarily stepped down as chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation, after reports that he had offered to help secure a knighthood and British citizenship for billionaire Saudi businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, a donor to one of Charles’ charities.
The scandal revolves around what may have been promised to the very rich, who were stumping up cash to help Charles renovate buildings like Dumfries House in Scotland, and follows on the heels of the cash-for-access scandal of last month.
In 2017, Fawcett wrote to an aide of Saudi businessman: “In light of the ongoing and most recent generosity of His Excellency... I am happy to confirm to you, in confidence, that we are willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for Citizenship. I can further confirm that we are willing to make [an] application to increase His Excellency’s honor from Honorary CBE to that of KBE in accordance with Her Majesty’s Honours Committee.”
The Sunday Times published damning emails. In one, William Bortrick, the owner of the aristocracy’s genealogy guide Burke’s Peerage and a paid adviser to Mahfouz, told colleagues that once he has “Hon OBE ... then more money will flow.”
The OBE, Bortrick wrote, was “promised to MBM [Mahfouz Bin Mahfouz] to get the £1.5 million he paid for Dumfries [House] and [The Castle of] Mey.” Bortrick added: “MF [Michael Fawcett] needs to keep to his side of the bargain and sort out the Hon OBE immediately; then assist with citizenship.”
Bortrick told the Sunday Times: “I have worked tirelessly on behalf of the Mahfouz family for many years ... I certainly did not sell a CBE, which is impossible.”
A spokesperson for Bin Mahfouz told the Mail on Sunday he had “not had personal or direct communication to either request, influence or make any arrangements regarding citizenship or knighthood with Mr Fawcett, or anyone connected to HRH The Prince of Wales or The Prince’s Foundation.”
“Spencer”: the reviews are in, and split
Spencer, a dramatization of the life of Princess Diana starring Kristen Stewart and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Pablo Larraín hit screens at the Venice Film Festival this week, and the decidedly mixed reviews are in.
The British media on the whole are unimpressed at the latest theatrical rendering of their national icon: the UK Times gives it two stars and says the movie “veers wildly from moments of dreamy intrigue to risible scenes of camp”. The Mail also awards two out of five and describes it as “a tureen of purest whimsy.” The Guardian is an exception, awarding the movie five stars, saying: “This extraordinary film… spins the headlines and scandals into a full-blown Gothic nightmare, an opulent ice palace of a movie with shades of Rebecca at the edges and a pleasing bat-squeak of absurdity in its portrayal of the royals.”
American outlets seem more ready to embrace the movie, especially its star.
The New York Times is full of praise for the lead actor, saying: “Stewart always proves to be a grounding presence, no matter how lost Diana gets. The more the movie goes on, the more her casting even seems like a meta stroke of genius: Stewart is one of the few people on the planet who has known paparazzi scrutiny that is even somewhat comparable to the fusillade of flashbulbs that hounded Diana until her death.”
Our colleague Marlow Stern reckons Stewart’s performance is worthy of an Oscar nod and describes the film as “a mixture of Jackie and Stewart’s Personal Shopper, positioning Diana’s tale as a gothic horror story of a woman lost to madness in a cold, haunted mansion.”
Most reviews concur on one point, however: that the sequence featuring the appearance of Anne Boleyn’s ghost might be a little too much, even for a Diana movie.
More trouble in paradise
Whispers have circulated for many years that Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco’s ten-year marriage is in trouble. Now there is more bad news for the couple after Charlene was rushed to hospital in South Africa on Wednesday, which her spokesperson said occurred after she collapsed because of complications linked to an infection. She was discharged on Friday.
As The Daily Beast reported this week, Charlene has not been seen in public in Monaco since January, and headed off alone to her native South Africa in March. What was initially intended to be a two week stay has now extended to many months, which the Monaco royals have said is due to Charlene, 43, developing and seeking surgery for a severe ear infection.
Albert, 63, and their twin children, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, arrived for a brief visit in late August. The couple posted a picture of themselves embracing awkwardly, marking the first time they had been pictured together since January 26. It did little to soothe Monaco gossip.
Albert and the children are thought to have only stayed a few days before flying home to Monaco.
Charlene’s protracted absence from her husband’s side feeds into the extraordinary narrative of Charlene as a “runaway princess,” an irresistible storyline to European tabloid magazines begun when it was reported that before her wedding, Charlene tried to thrice flee Monaco. She once reportedly took shelter at the South African embassy in Paris, only to be brought back to Monaco by the principality’s security services.
Her tearful appearance at the wedding, concluding with a very awkward balcony kiss made headlines around the world for all the wrong reasons. It provided a stark contrast to the nuptials of William and Kate, which had taken place just a few weeks before.
Albert’s well-known playboy past has also proved hard to shake. He has admitted to having fathered two illegitimate children before their marriage and is now facing a paternity suit over claims he fathered yet another illegitimate child in 2005. He has denied the claims.
Sail away
Kate Middleton has reportedly been teaching Prince William and their kids, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to sail this summer—a local source telling Vanity Fair they are “very much a family of sailors now,” with their watery adventures unfolding off the north Norfolk coast.
“Kate has always been a competent sailor and William’s pretty good too,” the source revealed. “They have enjoyed some wonderful time on the coast this summer sailing and showing the children how to steer and sail a boat. They love the water and the two eldest are good swimmers and had no qualms about jumping into the sea even if it was a bit fresh.”
The whole family, including Prince Louis, also visited the queen at Balmoral this summer, Vanity Fair reporting they had taken “long walks in the countryside, fishing, riding and cycling,” a source saying: “William, Kate, and the children have been enjoying some family time in Scotland, and they have just spent some special time with the Queen.”
This week in royal history
Princess Diana’s funeral took place 24 years ago on September 6, 1997. Memories of that day include her brother’s speech, taking the royals and media to task over their treatment of Diana, the flowers hitting the limousine transporting her coffin to the Althorp estate, Elton John singing, and—of course—Harry and William walking behind her coffin. In 2017, Harry said: “No child should be asked to do that.”
Unanswered questions
Will Harry and Meghan return to the U.K.? How will Prince Charles weather the cash-for-honors scandal? Who leaked the plans for when the queen died? And is Kristen Stewart a lock for an Oscar nomination for her role as Princess Diana in Spencer?
