Prince William & Kate are really ‘nervous’ about Harry’s breezy visit to London

Prince Harry will be at the WellChild Awards in London on September 7th. The 8th is the one-year anniversary of QEII’s passing and the 9th is the first day of the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf. On the 8th, Prince William and Kate are traveling to Wales, where they will go to church and make a few appearances to memorialize QEII. The rest of the family is unlikely to be seen whatsoever on the 8th – King Charles has made it clear that he’s not interested in doing a splashy memorial or even a private family event at Balmoral. Instead of just accepting that Charles and his two sons are all like ships passing in the night, there’s a lot of energy being put into How Dare Harry Come To England with a dash of How Dare Harry Not Beg The Windsors To Agree To See Him. Speaking of, the Daily Beast’s Royalist had a not-so-surprising piece on what William, Kate and Charles think about Harry’s breezy visit.

Friends of Prince William and Kate Middleton have said the couple will be irritated at Prince Harry’s decision to give a speech in London on the eve of the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, while sources have also told The Daily Beast that Harry is not likely to see his father or brother, and will not be expected to attend any private or public family gatherings to mark the late queen’s passing.

William and Kate are due to make an as-yet unconfirmed public appearance outside of London on Sept. 8, at which they will remember the late queen—and there will inevitably now be questions as to whether Harry’s dramatic insertion of himself into the week’s events will overshadow their plans. A source in their office told The Daily Beast that the precise details of their engagement would be announced soon.

A friend of William and Kate’s said the couple would likely have no intention of meeting up with Harry or doing a joint engagement with him, unsurprisingly, some might say, given the parlous state of relations between the formerly very close brothers….Harry is reportedly going to still be in the U.K. on Sept. 8—and his decision to be in the country on the actual anniversary of the queen’s death will look to some like a calculated provocation.

A friend of Prince William’s told The Daily Beast, “It is increasingly hard to work out what Harry wants to be and do. He was appointed to be a patron of WellChild because he was a member of the royal family. Now this is something that he apparently wants to carry on doing in his capacity as a private individual. William and Kate will be irritated, especially by the date, but will just ignore it. What else can they do?”

They said that William and Kate would not extend an olive branch to Harry by inviting him to appear with them, or to meet for private conversations. Staff at Kensington Palace have already said that William and Kate will make a public appearance on the one-year anniversary of Elizabeth’s death. Given that this is the day after Harry makes his speech, there might yet be a possibility that the two camps can accommodate each other, if Harry avoids any public engagements on the actual anniversary. The real nervousness at the palace will be that Harry may choose to further disrupt the delicate choreography of the day by making some kind of surprise appearance on the 8th itself.

A friend of King Charles sought to shrug off the impact of Harry’s visit, telling The Daily Beast: “Harry is a private citizen. What he does on the anniversary of the queen’s death is entirely a matter for him. The king certainly won’t be changing his plans in reaction to what Harry is doing.”

Asked if the king would be concerned that an appearance by Harry at a marquee charity event could distract media focus, the friend said, “I don’t think anybody is under any illusions about the challenges that they face going forward with Harry. But the bigger picture here is that this is the anniversary of the monarch’s death, people will want to mark it in different ways.”

[From The Daily Beast]

While Charles remains a dogsh-t father, I think it’s interesting that Charles’s camp greeted Harry’s news with a shrug and a sigh, meanwhile William and Kate are neurotically briefing reporters about their fear that Harry will (gasp) make an appearance on the same day as them. Their events in Wales were supposed to be their big return to work and it will be the first time they’ve done any event in two months. And their big macabre thing is being ruined because Harry wants to spend time with sick kids and their families. Speaking of, “He was appointed to be a patron of WellChild because he was a member of the royal family. Now this is something that he apparently wants to carry on doing in his capacity as a private individual…” William truly can’t comprehend the fact that Harry would go out of his way to help people and honor these kids and their families. William can’t comprehend someone else’s service without it being attached to a title and “duty.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.