The Royal Family has been left ‘baffled’ by Harry and Meghan’s reported demands for an apology from Buckingham Palace, in the wake of their controversial Netflix documentary that has further soured relations within the Firm.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly holding out for the Palace to apologise before they consider attending King Charles’s coronation next year.
But insiders have said the royals are ‘baffled’ over reports that the couple want to meet to address their grievances, and are ‘refusing to respond’ until they also admit that they have made their own mistakes during the row.
According to one Royal expert, there is zero chance the Royal family will make the first move in any efforts towards reconciliation.
The Royal Family has been left ‘baffled’ by Harry and Meghan’s demands for an apology from Buckingham Palace, in the wake of their controversial Netflix documentary (pictured) that has further soured within the Firm
Lady Susan Hussey (left) meeting Ngozi Fulani, founder of the charity Sistah Space in the Regency room in Buckingham Palace this week. Reports have said Harry and Meghan feel they are deserving of an apology too
Yesterday, The Sunday Times reported that Harry and Meghan ‘want their own apology’ after Lady Susan Hussey met with black charity boss Ngozi Fulani for ‘reconciliation’ talks at Buckingham Palace this week.
The 83-year-old, who served the late Queen for six decades, stepped down from her honorary role ‘with immediate effect’ amid a furious outcry after Miss Fulani tweeted how she repeatedly asked her ‘where do you really come from?’ at a royal reception.
The scandal prompted Lady Susan to step down, and an intervention from Prince William, with his office criticising his godmother’s ‘unacceptable comments’ and saying ‘racism has no place in our society’.
Lady Susan apologised in person to Miss Fulani on Thursday, which she accepted before an agreed statement from the pair said both wanted to ‘rebuild their lives in peace’ following the ‘distressing’ ordeal.
But it seems the saga left Harry and Meghan miffed, as the Sussexes are now reportedly demanding a ‘sit down with the royal family’ to address their own ‘issues’ – many of which were aired in their six-part bombshell Netflix documentary this week, seen by many as an unprecedented attack on the Firm.
This, however, has left the Royal Family ‘baffled’, source have told The Sun.
‘The King does not want to get involved in a public tit for tat,’ a source is reported to have said, with another asking: ‘Who’s apologising to whom?’
Meanwhile, Katie Nichols, Vanity Fair’s Royal Editor, said there is no chance of the Royal Family making the first move to apologise to the Sussexes.
‘What needs to happen is an admission that there have been faults on both sides and once there has been that admission, that may pave the way for a reconciliation,’ Ms Nichols told OK! Magazine. ‘But Charles knows that a monarchy divided is not a monarchy the world wants to see.
‘Harry knows full well William isn’t going to retaliate. I think the Palace’s stance of never complain, never explain in this instance is absolutely the right strategy because if they comment they will only fuel the narrative and allow the story more oxygen to run. ‘I think by saying nothing it’s a dignified silence.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly holding out for Buckingham Palace to apologise before they consider attending King Charles’s coronation next year. Pictured: Front row from left, Britain’s King Charles III, Camilla the Queen Consort, Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Kate Princess of Wales and the Sophie, Countess of Wessex during the ‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service at Westminster Abbey in London, Thursday, Dec. 15
Sources told the Sunday Times over the weekend that Harry and Meghan feel the Royal Family has double standards by publicly apologising to Miss Fulani and not to them.
One told the paper: ‘Nothing like that was ever done when Harry and Meghan raised various concerns — no meeting, formal apology or taking responsibility or accountability. That is hard to swallow — 100 per cent yes they’d like to have a meeting.’
The Sussexes are said to be asking to meet before King Charles’ coronation in May, which they are set to attend. A senior palace source added: ‘If they want to get in touch with the King, they know where he lives.’
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It comes just weeks before the release of Harry’s tell-all autobiography Spare, which is expected to contain claims even more incendiary than those in the Netflix documentary.
In the Netflix docuseries the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the institution ‘blocked’ Harry from seeing his grandmother, the Queen, after they decided to step back as senior royals.
Harry also said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to see his brother’s communications office ‘copy’ the behaviour of their father’s by ‘trading’ stories with the press.
But according to friends, the Prince of Wales will be a hard sell, with one saying things between him and his brother have been ‘very strained for a while’, while another added: ”There is sadness at where things currently are with his brother… and there’s a memoir coming.’
According to the Sunday Times, the Palace has no plans to meet with the Sussexes and will not be making a comment on their Netflix series.
Commenting on Harry’s pending memoir, one courtier told the paper: ‘That is Harry’s decision – he’s taking one decision, we’re taking another.’
Another said the family were deliberately remaining silent ‘to send a message by being voiceless’ as their ‘duty is to get on with the job.’
Indeed the senior royals have shown a united front in recent days, coming together just hours after the latest Netflix release for Kate’s Together At Christmas concert at Westminster Abbey.
And the Prince of Wales looked dapper in a black tuxedo and matching bowtie on Saturday as he slipped in discreetly to his his ex-girlfriend Rose Farquhar’s wedding in Gloucestershire.
William would have likely jumped at the chance to spend an evening with childhood friends – which included Guy Pelly, the godfather to Prince Louis.
A friend of the royal family added: ‘They are right to rise above it and concentrate on demonstrating that service and duty matter. Let the trivialities, pettiness and contradictions speak for themselves.’
In a blistering attack on the Sussexes, a friend of the King branded their Netflix series a ‘disgraceful betrayal of trust’ and an ‘unwelcome distraction in the short term and very hurtful to the family.’
It comes just weeks before the release of Harry’s tell-all autobiography Spare, which is expected to contain claims even more incendiary than those from the Netflix documentary
They said that most people will ‘see it for what it is – self-indulgent, one-sided and exploitative.’
They added: ‘William must be furious and the King will be devastated, but they will crack on, showing on a weekly basis what the job entails and the value it brings — Harry and Meghan can’t. Any chance of reconciliation is much harder now.’
In the second half of Harry & Meghan on Netflix, the Duke of Sussex paints a picture of a passive late Queen while describing how William ‘screamed and shouted’ at him during the so-called Sandringham summit. He also said the King said things ‘that simply weren’t true’ while Her Majesty sat ‘quietly taking it all in’.
He added: ‘You have to understand that from a family’s perspective, especially from hers, there are ways of doing things and her ultimate mission, goal, slash responsibility is the institution.
‘People around her are telling her that proposal or these two doing x, y or z is going to be seen as an attack on the institution, then she’s going to go on the advice she’s been given.’
But one courtier branded the insinuation ‘outrageous’, suggesting Harry simply could not accept that the Queen did not agree with him and his desire to be a ‘half in half out’ royal.
‘He couldn’t fathom that he wasn’t the cheeky chappy who was going to sweet-talk grandma into getting what he wanted,’ they told the Sunday Times.
Another accused the prince of shifting his perception of his grandmother from ‘my commander-in-chief’ and ‘the boss’ to a ‘diminutive figure sat in the corner’ when he was not getting the support he wanted from her.
Elsewhere, claims made in the series that the Royal Family were ‘upset’ at being ‘upstaged’ by Meghan have been firmly by rejected by palace sources.
Harry had suggested that Meghan’s widespread press coverage and attention had made other royals jealous.
One told the Sunday Telegraph the Firm were more than used to new and younger royals receiving more of the limelight.
‘When it was a group of family event, every single person expected Meghan or Kate to be the lead shot in the papers,’ one told the paper, ‘they’ve seen it happen over generations.’
Another said: ‘To suggest that they would be surprised or frustrated is to fundamentally misconstrue that the institution understands how the media works.’
The airing of so much deeply personal family drama by the Sussexes may have actually backfired, with royal sources believing they may have ‘overplayed their hand quite badly.’
One source told the Times : ‘They’ve fired all their ammunition and keep shooting the same bullets. Their business model must rely on them making money from something, what will it be if not to rely on this narrative of victimhood?’
Meanwhile, a friend of Harry and Meghan said Harry’s book Spare will be their last tell-all moment. They said the couple will ‘focus on their service work’ following its release and that they are ‘looking forward to people being interested in what they’re doing beyond all the drama.’
