Prince Harry has returned to LA. For days there has been speculation about how much time he would spend in the UK and how he would spend it, with people maliciously hoping that his visit to London without Meghan Markle would result in a reconciliation – with the implication that Meghan is the one to have the problem . Some have also been rumored that he intended to stay for the Queen’s birthday, which is today.
The thing is, no one really knew what Harry was going to do, and certainly not the places where it was reported, as Harry has expressed his views on British media. The fact that he is now home with his wife and child means that whatever happened between him and his relatives was not enough to extend his journey.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t produce positive results, although perhaps not the positive things that were going around. Like the story about Harry writing a ‘very personal’ letter to Prince Charles. According to Omid Scobie’s piece in Harper’s Bazaar, this is not true. There was no correspondence, but everyone agreed that the focus would only be on Prince Philip and the funeral:
“This trip was to honor his grandfather’s life and support his grandmother and family members,” explains a source close to Harry. ‘It was really a time when the family was central. Saturday broke the ice for future talks, but outstanding issues have not been addressed in detail. The family just put their problems aside to focus on what was important. “
All in all, fairly neutral information. The only thing worth noting here is that, of course, if there was a family who could NOT talk about the elephant in the room, it would be this one.
But going back to the involvement of the media, and the relationship of the British Royal Family with the British media, especially the tabloid media, which Harry pointed out quite directly in the interview with Oprah, you saw that story about Arthur Edwards how he photographed the funeral?
Arthur Edwards is the photographer for The Sun, one of the newspapers that has sued Harry and Meghan. He had a special hole in which he was allowed to hide in St George’s Chapel during the funeral to get exclusive photos – and he claims these were Prince Philip’s wishes.
If this was indeed arranged by Prince Philip before his death, it confirms that the royal family clearly makes provisions for coverage in the gossip magazines. And even if it wasn’t Philip himself who had allowed this, someone on the royal team did, because that’s the only way Arthur Edwards could be in that position.
So here’s a paper that writes some sh-tty stuff about Harry and Meghan, and as Harry and Meghan have confirmed, their own family members continue to support that outlet. These are not problems that can be solved overnight. And these are a lot of issues that need to be addressed.
What’s interesting is that Prince William was not very fond of the British tabloids in the past. And he hasn’t taken on a leadership role to cut that off, especially now that they’ve taken his side over his brother’s. Wondering if that will ever change, or if William will continue to do things as they always have been done.
Here he is, with Kate, a themed outfit for the occasion, today at the Air Training Corps in London. Kate is the Honorary Commander, a patronage transferred to her by Prince Philip.