It’s official. Harry and Meghan won’t be going to Sandringham for Christmas. Despite their insistence that they’re royal, that they are ‘public figures’ undertaking royal-style engagements and are still members of the family, they have been cut off from a royal Christmas. They’re effectively banned.
It’s a strong message from the King and Prince William. Arguably a quiet act of revenge. After all, Christmas is a time for family, peace and reconciliation.
But after the Sussex strategy to defy the Sandringham Summit and essentially stick two fingers up at the institution, what choice do Charles and William have?
I’m told Harry and Meghan were angered by the September directive from the King that reminded everyone they are ‘private citizens’ and thus not working members of the family after their move back to the UK.
Their response? Seemingly to create as much noise, as much conflict and as much confusion as possible over their public events, to make them appear just as royal as the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
They think there’s nothing Buckingham Palace can do to stop them
The Sussexes don’t want to be seen as ‘non-working royals’ (a term they reportedly hate).
They consider themselves to be royal on their own terms and so have behaved as if the past six years of Megxit never happened.
And they appear to think that there’s nothing Buckingham Palace can do to stop them.
So inviting them to take part in the famous walk to church on Christmas Day would have sent entirely the wrong message after the Sussexes have repeatedly appeared to show, in my opinion, that they don’t give a damn about the Crown.
Can you imagine the furore if they were pictured with the Prince and Princess of Wales, plus their children, dutifully accepting flowers and presents from well-wishers?
There is no trust there
Plus William has his own young family to prioritise. A friend says, ‘There is no trust there with his brother and sister-in-law. The prince is concerned for his own family - he has to protect them and their privacy. Any conversation, any Christmas presents, any moment could be regurgitated for the Sussexes’ commercial profit.
'If Harry and Meghan were to be invited to family events, I think you’d find that he and Catherine would have other plans.’
Harry keeps wittering on about wanting reconciliation with his family - but what he says is so very different to what he does.
Plus, if he really does want to make up with his brother, he needs to put a sock in it and stop taking public side swipes at him, as he did last month, saying, ‘Some people don’t want [reconciliation] to work out.’ (Harry’s spokesperson denied that this was a swipe at William or anyone else in the family.)
There are royals (Zara and Mike Tindall spring to mind) who have navigated the tricky balancing act of being private individuals (and thus earning their own money) and Royal Family members.
But, crucially, the Tindalls, Peter Phillips and even Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have never criticised the Firm or individuals within it. Harry and Meghan, by contrast, have made millions whinging to Oprah, on Netflix and, most cuttingly, in Harry’s autobiography, Spare.
Harry and Meghan are establishing a rival court
One could argue (and Team Sussex do!) that the likes of Zara, Mike and Peter Phillips make money from their royal association (although, to be fair to the Tindalls, their huge sporting success has brought them fame and fortune).
But they don’t stage massive pseudo-royal public engagements, do walkabouts and generally act as if they’re working royals. They stay in their lane. They do not muddy the waters.
In contrast, the Sussexes are determined to be perceived as current members of the Royal Family. This is precisely what the Palace doesn’t want, as Harry and Meghan are, in effect, establishing a rival court.
It was just about tolerable when they were on the other side of the Atlantic. But not when they’re parking their tanks on Buckingham Palace’s lawn.
The guest list at Sandringham is always a barometer of who’s in and who’s out
So no wonder they’ve been essentially banned from family Christmas celebrations. The guest list at Sandringham is always a barometer of who’s in and who’s out (I doubt we’ll ever see Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor there again).
The King and Prince William have to draw a hard line between those who are fully committed to the duty and service of the Firm and those who aren’t.
Make no mistake - Harry and Meghan may say they want family reconciliation, but they have a funny way of showing it. And now, they don’t seem to care.
A friend of the Sussexes told me, ‘They won’t be invited to Sandringham - can you even imagine? They know it would be too awkward and difficult. They will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with Doria, either in the UK or in the USA.’
There is also the traditional Christmas lunch for the wider family, before the King and Queen depart for Norfolk.
At this rate, I doubt that the Sussexes will be invited to that, either.
This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.