So many questions sprung to mind upon reading that, according to those close to 'Team Sussex', Prince Harry 'would love' to bring his family - wife Meghan and children Lilibet and Archie - to his father's private Sandringham estate this summer 'if he was invited by the King', in a bid to start repairing the family rift. My first thought was that, if Harry is so desperate for some 'family time', why not call his father himself - or is the Palace's distrust of him now so great they wouldn't risk a phone conversation for fear of the call being leaked? With their careers, credibility and collateral collapsing in the US, what are the Sussexes really after?
Though Meghan's partnership with streaming service Netflix has come to an end, we have every right to wonder whether they might be planning to have a camera crew in tow to record their every interaction. Of course there are complex emotions at play here. The King has not seen his grandchildren - Prince Archie , six, and Princess Lilibet, four - for four years. Knowing he is still facing cancer treatment, he must be dwelling on his own life and legacy. The King is known to be a doting grandfather to William and Kate’s brood - George, Charlotte and Louis - and it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t want to see Archie and Lilibet face to face. He can be a big old softie when it comes to his family.
One must also ask: why now for Harry’s plea? Is it to do with the state of the King’s health? After all, it was Harry who, after his 50-minute visit to see his father over a cuppa in September, later told the BBC: ‘I don’t know how much longer my father has left.’ Harry must know that when the terrible day comes, and we lose our monarch, his brother, the new King William, will have no truck with him. Perhaps I’m a cynic, or simply a seasoned observer. But seeing the way William turned his back on the former prince Andrew and his cling-on wife Fergie must have sent a shiver down the Sussexes’ spines. They must now surely realise a stubborn and, by all accounts, grudge-bearing William will never forgive his brother for his terrible betrayal.
As King, William will, according to some royal sources, have the power to strip the Sussexes and their children of all royal titles under the guise of his plans for a modern 'slimline monarchy'. Far easier, then, for Harry to heal the rift while his beloved, forgiving Pa is still alive. When we finally lose him, I can already imagine a new book from Montecito: 'The Spare's Despair upon losing his beloved Pa.' Then a Netflix series. 'Harry & Meghan: Our last visit with the King of England'. I can see a script being developed as I write. Surely an advance for that would eclipse the $60million they got from their last five-year deal with the streaming platform.
So imagine their disappointment when, after the weekend’s reports of Harry’s bid for a reconciliation, a source close to the King bluntly replied: ‘If Harry truly wishes to see his father, he would do well to encourage his supporters to allow such matters to be discussed privately, since low trust and bitter experience in this regard remains one of the principal barriers to progress.’ With no other welcoming words from the King, it’s looking a lot like a non-starter, especially if William and Kate have anything to do with it, since they spend much of their summer holidays with the kids at their Anmer Hall home on the Sandringham estate. Although there’s one bit of solace for Harry - Uncle Andy is just down the road in his temporary Sandringham home, Wood Farm. I’m sure he’s desperate for visitors.