The 'royals' and America's relatives: what to do with Harry and Meghan?

LondonAll houses have dirty laundry. And royal families, even more so. There are plenty of examples. In the Spanish monarchy, the British one..., even the Norwegian one, with the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Marius Borg Hoiby, recently sentenced to four years in prison for two counts of rape and domestic violence. But they are the blessed royals from Buckingham Palace are the ones who take almost all the podium medals. Otherwise, a series like The Crown, laundering and glorification of a completely dysfunctional clan and institution, it could not have had so many, many seasons.

A few days before the 29th anniversary of the death in Paris, in a car accident, of Diana of Wales, their second son, Prince Harry, and his wife, actress Meghan Markle, were announce their return to the islands. It had been six years since they had left to fulfill the American dream, with a dry and sonorous slam of the door, leaving grandmother Elisabet with her nose in the air. The queen, in a famous family summit, set the terms of the gilded exile: nothing easy at the same time. That is, they did not let them continue with the condition of working royals part-time, to be able to invoice a sufficient volume of own resources in other business, while continuing to benefit from royal status to make the cash register ring more and more. In practice, however, Henry never shed the halo of a prince, of a mischievous prince, after all. Some things are in the blood...

Will the return of the couple and their two children change the family dynamic?Charles III does not seem to have any intention of moving the framework set by his mother. Be that as it may, the bothersome relatives from the Americas – who periodically caused indignation thanks to interviews, books, and documentaries – have settled in the Cotswolds, an area located 150 to 200 km west of London. And this presence and simultaneous absence may do more harm than good to the Crown.

The Cotswolds, it must be said in passing, are the ideal landscape to continue fueling the fiction of bucolic England that Harry and Meghan want to offer Archie and Lilibet, their two children, aged seven and five: stone villages, green hills even in drought, and wealthy Londoners (and many Americans), all smiling in a sort of theme park for the privileged.

The king's price before he was king

What remains to be seen is whether the emergence of the rediscovered son will become a cause for concern in the medium or long term for a tired king, ill, even though the treatment has been successful so far, and that I would like to have a peaceful and uneventful end to my life. The reason for the intrigue is well known: the two brothers, Guillem, the heir, and Enric, have not spoken for years.

At the end of April 2021, the British press, always attentive to any detail surrounding palace life, published a few days after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, Philip, Elizabeth II's husband, that the then heir to the throne Charles had called both sons to account. "Please, boys!, don't make my last years a hell", he would have told them, presumably. That plea, expressed during or around the funeral ceremonies, has just acquired a new meaning.

The same press, monarchist to the last drop of ink, took sides a long time ago with William and Kate Middleton, the perfect couple that guarantees the continuity of the institution for centuries to come, and who have had such a hard time due to the Princess's illness, fortunately overcome. Not by chance, some of Enric's family confidences and indiscretions in his book, Spare, were very poorly received. For example, the alleged physical assault of the older brother on the younger one. Also Meghan's comments in the interview with Oprah Winfrey in which accused some of the family members of racism, for that question, of such bad taste, about the color of the skin of the offspring.

What will Guillem do now?

Will Enric remain silent now, avoiding the barbs for his brother? The royal correspondents of the British media. But, above all, they wonder what Guillem, the heir, will do. Will he reconcile with his brother? Will he show himself to be magnanimous, as only great kings are capable of being, and forgive the betrayal of the little one's family? For the moment, he has said neither yes nor no; neither officially nor unofficially. Nothing at all. The bitterness must be deep, as in any quarreling family.

In July, the rapprochement between son and father, Enric and Carles, had an evident staging. The King and Queen invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and the grandchildren, of course, for tea at Highgrove, one of the royal estates. The usual sources that spread what needs to be known without it seeming like anything has been said, reported that "the meeting went well." And since the announcement of the return, the same sources have indicated that the King is delighted to be able to spend more time, from time to time, with the other side of the family.

Does this mean that Enric, Meghan and the children will be invited to Sandringham, the estate near Norfolk (east of England), where Elizabeth II, and now also Charles III, spend their Christmas holidays? The press, most concerned about the comings and goings of the Windsors, has already suggested no, not even thinking about it. But is this option realistic? It doesn't seem so. To veto the prince and the actress would be to equate the couple to the same level as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Charles III's brother, involved in much murkier affairs than a sibling quarrel. Little by little, signs of détente will be seen. And God will tell what can happen in December.