Prince William Seems Like He's Done Having Prince Harry's Back
Last week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked the world by announcing their plans to step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family. According to reports, the statement the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released on Instagram was not run by Harry's family members, and needless to say, took everyone, including Queen Elizabeth, off guard.
Save for a short, evasive statement released from the palace (referencing "complicated issues"), no one from the royal family has broken their silence on what's now been dubbed as "Megxit" -- publicly. A new report claims Prince William spoke about Harry to friends recently, and his words have now been revealed. Spoiler alert: Things are taking a depressing turn.
Many outlets are reporting that Prince William, although sad, is basically over Harry.
"I've put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can't do that anymore; we're separate entities. I'm sad about that," William told close friends recently, according to the Sun. “All we can do, and all I can do, is try and support them and hope that the time comes when we’re all singing from the same page. I want everyone to play on the team."
That's a diplomatic statement, if we've ever heard one.
Of course, the Duke of Cambridge may wind up changing his tune ...
Evidently, the Queen has called an emergency meeting for Monday.
The meeting, which will take place at the Queen's country estate, Sandringham, will reportedly have her majesty, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry. Apparently, Meghan Markle, who's in Canada with Archie, may phone in at some point.
A palace source said the following:
"Following a series of meetings and consultations across the last few days, there are a range of possibilities for the family to review which take into account the thinking the Sussexes outlined earlier in the week. Making a change to the working lives and the role in the monarchy for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will require both complex and thoughtful discussions. Next steps will be agreed at the meeting and the request for this to be resolved at pace is still Her Majesty’s wish. The aim remains to have it resolved in days not weeks. There are a range of possibilities to review."
The Queen’s former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, added: “This is a landmark meeting which is absolutely unprecedented.”
Obviously, the goal of the meeting is to reach some sort of compromise, but let's be real: Things will probably get ugly.
In addition to reports that the Queen blocked Harry and Meghan from discussing their plan to step back with her (reportedly, she wanted full approval from Prince Charles first), there's a bit of finger-pointing that's been happening over whose side leaked the news.
It's being reported that Prince Harry suspects aides to Prince William or Prince Charles leaked his plan to move to North America, whereas the other side thinks Meghan’s U.S. PR team has something to do with it.
Again, things will get ugly.
If the Queen wants things resolved in a matter of days, we'll likely be hearing the result of the meeting sooner than later.
Hopefully, all parties get a piece of what they're looking for out of this, and the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry isn't completely destroyed in the process.
If we're being honest, though, we're not so sure that's an option at this point.
We'll be waiting with bated breath ...