Hardman: The Sussexit happened because of ‘failings at every level of the institution’

There’s yet another new royal book coming out next month. This one is called Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II, by Robert Hardman. While it exists as a “biography” of QEII, let’s be clear: this is just a flat-out account of recent years in the Windsor clan, and judging from the book excerpts in the Daily Mail, Hardman is mostly a stenographer of Buckingham Palace courtiers. It’s yet another rehash of many tabloid stories over the years, although Hardman does gloss over some of the more, uh, keen-centric narratives? That’s the only credit I can really give him, Hardman doesn’t seem like a hack for Prince William and Kate. The narratives in this book are being driven by the Queen’s handlers, all of whom have bungled the operation for years, if not decades. Some highlights from this Daily Mail book excerpt:

When Prince Charles offered to walk Meghan down the aisle: Feeling for his future daughter-in-law, the Prince of Wales offered to step in, saying he would be honoured to escort Meghan up the aisle of St George’s Chapel to the altar. The reply, according to one friend, was not quite what he was expecting: ‘Can we meet halfway?’

Why Harry & Meghan were upset with the press in the fall of ‘18: ‘Unfortunately, the couple were still feeling sore about the whole business around Meghan’s father and the press before the wedding,’ says a Palace staffer. ‘That was not going to change.’

Oh lord they’re still salty about the baby shower: The Duchess’s decision to fly by private jet to be feted at a lavish celebrity ‘baby shower’ in the penthouse of a New York hotel pointed to another factor in her troubled relationship with the British press. What might be par for the course in U.S. celebrity circles simply jarred with what the public expected of members of the Royal Family. This was not just the usual suspects being horrid or trying to polarise public opinion into ‘Kate versus Meghan’ opposing camps. From the environmental charity Friends of the Earth to regulars on the parental website Mumsnet, there was robust criticism of a trip which smacked of both excessive extravagance and eco-unfriendly double standards.

The Sussexes & Cambridges split offices in early 2019: Early on, it looked like a rift to many — and the Sussexes felt it as such, says a friend. ‘It could and should have been handled better,’ says one ex-staffer. ‘The Palace hierarchy were being very rigorous and technical about it, but these are two brothers, not a factory production line.’ But in accelerating the parting of the offices, says a source close to the couple, the institution was unwittingly hastening the Sussexes’ ultimate departure from the royal fold altogether.

The Sussexes didn’t get positive feedback: Having worked hard to make their Australian trip a success, the couple were also deflated by the lack of feedback from within the institution on their return. ‘It would not have taken much for the hierarchy to say, “Well done,” but the Palace isn’t geared up for that,’ says a source. Nor did it help that, when the Sussexes were told to move their offices out of Kensington Palace, they were initially offered a back office at Buckingham Palace so small and inadequate that Prince Harry rejected it instantly. Eventually, an appeal to the Queen ensured that somewhere more appropriate was found alongside the Master of the Household’s team on a main corridor.

The Queen never expected the Sussexes to change their mind about leaving: The Palace also revealed that the Queen had insisted on a review of the situation after 12 months, just in case the couple might be having second thoughts. Privately, she wasn’t expecting them to. Asked by one wellmeaning visitor if she expected them to resume royal life, the Queen replied firmly: ‘Of course not. They took the dogs.’

Blaming Meghan: ‘It wasn’t easy for Meghan to adapt to this new life, but she did not allow herself much time,’ says a close charity associate of the Sussexes. ‘Meghan didn’t like the way things were done. She decided it was all wrong and he stood by her. Even so, blowing the whole thing up was a strange thing to do.’

The Oprah interview: For Prince William, there was the added anguish of seeing the younger brother whom he had protected (and who had idolised him) now throwing incendiary and, in some cases, unanswerable charges into the public domain, fully aware of their likely impact. ‘William,’ says one friend, ‘was as low as I’d ever seen him.’

Harry is still close to the Queen: ‘Harry adores her. She is the one who has kept the relationship going,’ says a senior aide. ‘He talks to her a lot, not unlike the way Prince Charles used to turn to the Queen Mother.’

The Sussexes still communicate with people in the royal family: ‘People have been advised that calls may be recorded, so it doesn’t make for a very relaxed situation,’ says one official.

In the end: However much the Sussexes’ departure and subsequent actions have upset family members and royal staff, there will have to be some acknowledgement of failings at every level of the institution prior to any sort of resolution. The couple could and should have been a very great asset to the monarchy. That they felt unable or unwilling to fulfil that role may have been down to some unrealistic expectations on their part, but that is not the whole story. Beyond the Palace, there remains a sense of a lost opportunity for the country.

[From The Daily Mail]

While Hardman peevishly details the Sussexes’ accusations of racism, I find it interesting that he, like nearly every royal commentator/biographer, ignores Meghan’s own statements in the Oprah interview about how low she felt during her first pregnancy, how she was being smeared in the press daily, to the point where she was suicidal. Surely, in the section where Hardman gets his panties in a bunch about the New York baby shower, he could have mentioned that the shower was likely set up by Meghan’s friends as a way for her to get away for Salt Island for a few days and be around people who love her, especially since she was (at that time) feeling so low? Also: I laughed at “calls may be recorded” and at the Harry “idolized” William section. GMAFB.

Hardman’s conclusion of the Sussex era is the equivalent of “mistakes were made”: “However much the Sussexes’ departure and subsequent actions have upset family members and royal staff, there will have to be some acknowledgement of failings at every level of the institution prior to any sort of resolution.” Please, you have all of this space and you’re writing a dang book about it: detail which mistakes were made and by whom.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.