There has been a recurring theme when it comes to meetings between the Duke of Sussex and his now estranged family in recent years. If he has any such meeting, sympathetic media outlets (if such a thing exists) will somehow learn of the contents and a (typically pro-Harry) story will appear shortly afterwards. Unsurprisingly, the royals have long since become sick of this and so Prince Harry and, by extension, Meghan have been treated with the kind of caution that most people would reserve for alluring women approaching them in late-night bars.
It was therefore a strictly observed proviso of the King’s meeting with his prodigal son two weeks ago that the details of their brief encounter remained between the two of them. Somewhat surprisingly, this held. Newspapers, used to wheedling chapter and verse out of handy ‘sources’, tied themselves in knots by trying to fill two pages on Harry’s comment that his father was ‘great’. That was until yesterday when the Sun splashed on claims that the Duke had regarded the meeting as ‘distinctly formal’, joked he was made to feel more like ‘an official visitor’ than a son, and gave his father a framed photograph of his children, Archie and Lilibet.
The list of potential moles appears to be a short one
The story was hardly epochal and, under previous circumstances, it would probably have gone without any further comment. However, Harry’s spokesman issued a furious denial, saying:
The quotes attributed to him are pure invention fed, one can only assume, by sources intent on sabotaging any reconciliation between father and son. Presumably, those same sources have also chosen to disclose that gifts were exchanged. While we would have preferred such details to remain private, for the sake of clarity we can confirm that a framed photograph was handed over, however the image did not contain the Duke and Duchess.
Although this might have been intended to put the matter to rest, it instead raised further questions. If these malicious sources were ‘pure invention’, then how could they be sufficiently well-briefed to have accurately revealed that a framed photograph of Archie and Lilibet had been given to the King, who has not seen his grandchildren since 2022? Given that there would have presumably been only a few people aware of the meeting – and, quite possibly, nobody else present for the tea and cake father and son took together – then the list of potential moles appears to be a short one.
The motivation to leak seems feeble, unless, of course, the Sun’s source had a vested interest in damaging the fragile rapprochement between Charles and Harry. This source, of course, could have been second-hand and nothing whatsoever to do with the royal family, given the time lapse of two and a half weeks, but there also remains the suspicion that it could have been someone closer to home.
This, at least, is what the Duke’s spokesman might have been trying to imply, even as he officially stated: ‘Harry is not trying to drive a wedge between the Prince of Wales and the King.’ Still, ever since Prince Harry’s staff met the King’s press secretary in July for a ‘peace summit’ in London, attempts to build bridges between the monarch and his younger son have been painstakingly thought out. Yet William, who remains disdainful of the brother he feels has betrayed both him and the institution they were brought up in, is never going to be a party to such a truce. Indeed, if the Sussexes’ actions have taught the world anything, it is that, if they don’t get their way, they will try to smash the walls down instead.
The Sun is standing by its story, saying that Harry confirmed the exchange of gifts and ‘was given full right of reply yesterday in advance of publication and opted not to give a response to the Sun’s carefully sourced account of the meeting’. It remains to be seen whether there will be any further developments on the King and Duke’s reunion but, short of a transcript of their conversation being released, it is unlikely any clearer details will be forthcoming.
The rapidity of the rebuttal and the apparently angry tone with which it has been delivered suggests that Harry is sincere about building bridges with his father again. Yet whether the information leaked from the meeting was accurate, exaggerated or ‘pure invention’, it suggests that highly-connected sources may be keen to burn those bridges.
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