Latest news with #rapprochement
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: The difference between William and Harry is that one has Kate to soothe his mental anguish... the other has Meghan to rub salt into his wounds
There are many practical – and constitutional – reasons why it makes sense for the Palace to explore a rapprochement with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. As A. N. Wilson argued so cogently in yesterday's Daily Mail, 'fractured dynasties do not survive', and when the crown eventually passes to Prince William, it would be infinitely better if Harry and Meghan were inside the tent rather than on the outside causing mayhem.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
AMANDA PLATELL: Charles may forgive Harry and Meghan but hell will freeze over before William or Kate do.... and this is why
Could the 'peace summit' in London involving the King's trusted Press Secretary and two of the Sussexes' key media executives really herald the distant possibility of an end to the bitter feud between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the Royal Family? Friends say that despite all the pain Harry has caused him, King Charles is a 'deeply loving and forgiving father', so a small step towards a rapprochement between father and son certainly seems plausible.
News.com.au
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Princess Kate pics at Wimbledon deal new blow to Prince Harry peace deal
In it's 115-year history the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) club in London's St James has never gotten more publicity than in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, the Daily Mail revealed it was the setting for an extraordinary peace summit between the trusted lieutenants of King Charles and Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. (Has anyone checked on the fiery depths of hell for ice?) Yesterday, the Mail revealed that Tobyn Andreae, the King's communications secretary, Meredith Maines, the Sussexes' communications chief, and Liam Maguire, in charge of their UK PR, had met for drinks at the ROSL for drinks in what been hailed as the beginning of the long slog towards a 'rapprochement' between London and Montecito. 'A channel of communication is now open for the first time in years,' a source told the Mail. 'It was finally the right time for the two sides to talk.' But before anyone cues up 'We Are Family' on the Clarence House tape deck, events playing out on the other side of London could prove to be a major stumbling block. On Sunday as the Mail was reporting their scoop, Prince William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales were arriving at Wimbledon for the men's finals. Glaringly absent from the ROSL drinks from their office. Whether William and Kate's reps were either not invited or they declined for them to go (their diligent foot soldiers probably too busy for afternoon drinky poos, as the Queen Mother called them, when there are reefs to save and conscious farming manuals to read), the bottom line is the same. Any real and lasting peace would have to involve Team Wales. The problem is that when it comes to loose-lipped malcontent Harry, his father and brother have staunchly different feelings. His Majesty has always stressed his love for his second son and is reportedly 'devastated' by the years-long feud, even despite Harry's blabby proclivities and the duke suing his father's own government. (Dead awkward that.) The prince, however, 'absolutely f***ing hates' his brother, as a Wales friend previously told The Daily Beast's Tom Sykes. The same friend told Sykes this weekend: 'William will never, ever forgive Harry for what he has done. Charles is the king; he can do what he likes. But make no mistake: William believes with every fibre of his being that giving Harry and Meghan back any royal imprimatur is a huge mistake.' And part of the reason that the prince will reportedly not be readily extending any olive branches? Harry's inclusion in Spare of details about Kate such as her encouragement of him to dress up as a Nazi, her 'grimacing' at having to share lip gloss with Meghan, and portraying her as something of a cold fish towards the former Suits star. Such is the froideur, if not ice age, between the brothers and their wives that William and Kate reportedly didn't bother to inform Harry and Meghan about her cancer diagnosis. They found when the rest of the world did. When Sussexes 'reached out privately,' per the Times, the 'contact was unreciprocated.' Which is to say that the King and the Sussexes' staffers can stand each other any number of rounds of drinks but how real and lasting can any healing of breaches and mending of fences be if William, both as Charles' son and the heir to the throne, is not on board? Also, breaking from his elder son comes with the risk of increased tensions between the King and his heir. There is also the question of the possible public cost in Charles burying the Harry hatchet. Would His Majesty doing so make him look like a magnanimous, loving parent or unpopular for welcoming back the person who (some believe) did the UK's beloved Kate dirty? Quite simply, Britain by and large adores the Princess of Wales – and has a dim view of the Duke of Sussex. As of May, 72 per cent of Britons have a favourable view of Kate versus 27 per cent who feel that way about Harry. The depth of feeling towards the future Queen was on show over the weekend. On the same day that the photos of the ROSL meeting were gracing the pages of the Mail, for the second time in as many days Kate was at Wimbledon, her presence being met with the sort of rapturous applause usually reserved for a minor deity or the original line-up of Take That. Fans hung over balconies and photos show her entering the stadium amid a sea of phones held aloft to record her arrival. Then, taking her seat for the women's final, the princess was greeted with a standing ovation. While it's debatable if the King would let public opinion sway things, him embracing Harry and letting the duke back 'in' to the royal fold some way could put him out of step with wider feeling. It's hard to find much sympathy in Britain for the Sussexes in the numbers. A poll done by YouGov in May found that 46 per cent of Brits felt that the royal family had treated Harry 'fairly', twice as many (23 per cent) who said 'unfairly'. On the same day, 97 per cent of readers of the right-leaning Express said they thought Charles should strip Harry and Meghan of their titles. Still, there is something of a deadline looming here. In 2027, Harry's Invictus Games will return to the UK for the first time since 21015 and will be held in Birmingham and it would be a terrible look for the royal family to not do their bit and come out barracking for the military and for veterans. Harry, reportedly, has formally invited the King along. And that in turn would necessitate some sort of patching things up. How to square the circle of Chalres, Harry, Invictus, William and Kate is enough to make anyone's head hurt and that's before we even factor in the question of Meghan and Invictus 2027 too. (The duchess has not missed a Games since meeting her husband in 2016.) What. To. Do. The only sensible, easy part to all of this – that the Charles/Sussex peace summit happened over a stiff drink. There is a time for a nice cup of tea – and situations that demand 40 per cent proof.
Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Sussexes ‘did not leak details of meeting with King's aide'
Team Sussex was not responsible for leaking the details of a 'peace summit' to a tabloid newspaper, sources insist. Senior aides working for the King and Prince Harry took the first steps towards rapprochement by holding sensitive talks last week. The meeting at a private members' club in central London, was an extraordinary development in relations between the two Royal households, which in recent years have been almost non-existent. Details including the venue, timings and nature of the talks were leaked to the Mail on Sunday. This led to the aides being 'papped' outside the club, and even during the meeting, as they enjoyed drinks on a balcony. The leak has jeopardised the fragile peace operation, creating further suspicion and distrust on both sides and potentially sending them back to square one. Sources close to Prince Harry insisted that the Sussexes were not responsible. They acknowledged that having the details of the meeting splashed across newspaper front pages was hardly an ideal way to start what they had hoped would be a new period of peace. Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Meredith Maines, the Duke's new chief communications officer based in California, was joined at the meeting by Liam Maguire, who runs the Sussexes's UK-based PR operation, and Tobyn Andreae, the King's communications secretary. The meeting was orchestrated in a bid to start afresh, with both sides recognising that an open communication channel would benefit them all. A source told the Mail on Sunday: 'There's a long road ahead, but a channel of communication is now open for the first time in years. 'There was no formal agenda, just casual drinks. There were things both sides wanted to talk about.' The meeting came weeks after the Duke told the BBC that he wanted to 'get my father and brother back'. It was hoped that the peace summit, at the Royal Over-Seas League near Clarence House, would be a line in the sand. Ms Maines and Mr Maguire arrived at the meeting by taxi on Wednesday afternoon, followed by Mr Andreae. The trio were seen on the club's first-floor garden terrace before moving inside. The source described the summit as the 'first step towards reconciliation between Harry and his father' and a 'a step in the right direction', adding: 'It was finally the right time for the two sides to talk.' The feud began when the Sussexes left their royal duties and moved to America, amid furious negotiations over the terms of their 'exit deal'. Since leaving for the US the Sussexes have shared intimate family revelations and made damaging allegations in a series of television interviews as well as in Spare, Prince Harry's memoir. Senior royals became 'wary' of talking to the Sussexes for fear their words would be repeated in public. The rift widened significantly following the Sussexes' 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which they alleged a member of the Royal family was concerned about their son Archie's skin tone before he was born. Then the Duke claimed in his controversial memoir that his brother had physically attacked him and that the King put his own interests above Harry's and was jealous of Meghan. Prince William, in particular, was angry about how the Princess of Wales had been portrayed and at his brother's betrayal for commercial gain. When the King was diagnosed with cancer in January 2023, Prince Harry was shaken enough to make a transatlantic dash to see his father. But the Duke's decision to take on the Government in the High Court over his access to state-funded police protection deepened the rift. The Duke believed the King could intervene on his behalf to negotiate an arrangement, but the King was said to have been so worried about being dragged into the case that he was hesitant to engage with his younger son in case his words were repeated in public. Harry lost his appeal in May. The 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham is one opportunity for a public reconciliation being discussed by both sides. The Duke is said to have sent email invitations to Buckingham Palace in the hope that it will give the King sufficient time to fit the event into his busy schedule. The prospect of the monarch's attendance is understood to have been discussed by senior palace aides, aware that the Games could prove a timely opportunity to mend bridges.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Secret peace talks between the Sussexes and King Charles?
Aides for King Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex held secret talks in London last week, in the first step in a 'rapprochement process' to restore their fractured relationship.
