PERCEPTION GAP

The Tragic Truth About How Harry and Meghan Really See Themselves

If anyone had any doubt about the astonishing self-regard in which the Sussexes hold themselves, it has been categorically proven this week.

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An extraordinary briefing from the Sussexes has revealed that they consider themselves not mere humble private citizens but “public figures.”

Insight into the Sussexes’ belief that, despite allegedly accepting Queen Elizabeth’s ruling that they could not be half in and half out, and despite allegedly accepting that they are no longer HRH, they still think they are public figures, came courtesy of British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

In comments to the Telegraph, it emerged that the reason they were so annoyed about the timing of a letter sent on the King’s behalf on Monday to ministers, military chiefs, lord lieutenants and high sheriffs, restating that their position is “akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests,” was the fact that they hadn’t been consulted. “A little surprised” was where it began on Tuesday. By this morning it turned out they were furious because…they hadn’t been given the opportunity to edit, or suggest edits to, the letter, which seems an incredibly arrogant thing to expect, really.

Quite why Harry and Meghan think the King needs their permission to communicate with his own government and his own army chief is a mystery, especially when they have given the royal family so little opportunity to have input into their own forays into the media over the past six years. (The Netflix films, for example, or Harry’s book Spare, or telling the world that Camilla was “dangerous,” an exercise for which they were paid, by most estimates, around $80 million).

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Rich and powerful people have long tried to control the media narrative about themselves. That is what they have PR people for. I’m sure Harry and Meghan would indeed like to be referred to as public figures. I’m sure that suits their own sense of grandeur much better than being mere private citizens.

The Palace, asked for comment, said the letter spoke for itself. Quite why Harry thought it was a good idea to have his people tell the Telegraph that they would rather be known in this way, after having a hissy fit and throwing the toys out of the pram over it on Tuesday, which also happened to be the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, is beyond me.

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Then came the news that the “Harry-Meghan nonsense,” as General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s military chief and the son of the president, put it, has led Uganda to pull out of the Invictus Games. “In order not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere, Uganda hereby withdraws from the Invictus Games,” he wrote on X. “We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.” He said he had factions in his defense ministry who supported “that Harry-Meghan nonsense” and he had to “quash it straight away.” Uganda was welcomed as the 26th Invictus nation, and the first from East Africa, barely two months ago.

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What this mess really highlights is the King’s lack of foresight, his lack of wisdom and, frankly, the foolishness of allowing Harry and Meghan to come home without a word of apology. There has been absolutely no briefing that this was unacceptable, or anything like that—indeed, sources have told The Royalist that he “encouraged” their return. And all we have heard on the record is Monday’s letter.

And while it answers the question of whether they are working royals now, the problem is that it leaves open the possibility that at some point their titles can be restored. The simple fact that they are still on the royal website is also concerning.

That is not the behavior of people who want a quiet private life in the Cotswolds.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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