One of the biggest mysteries about the Windsors is why they’re incapable of “being the bigger person” publicly. The courtiers fuss around endlessly to praise the Windsors’ brilliance, work ethic and their relatability, and yet magnanimity and good manners seem to elude them consistently. The Frogmore Cottage issue was the perfect example of this: the Sussexes were given a dilapidated shack, they were harangued until they “paid back” the cost of the renovation for a home they never owned, then they were were evicted from a home on which they had a valid and fully paid lease. So much for King Charles being a “caring father” or “loving grandfather,” you know? The Windsors rarely, if ever, err on the side of looking warm or loving. Well, someone convinced King Charles that it would be good for a quick PR hit to tell people that he “invited” the Sussexes to visit him over the summer in Balmoral. In fact, the Mail’s whole dumb story about Charles’s “first Balmoral summer without his mother” is about the Sussexes, basically.

This year, however, the Balmoral break will be different. For a start, King Charles and Queen Camilla will not be staying at Balmoral Castle itself, as the Queen always did. I can reveal they will be basing themselves at Birkhall, their private home on the Balmoral estate. Sources tell me the King and Queen will happily ‘decamp’ to the main castle for official visits, such as that of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Scottish First Minister (although it has yet to be confirmed whether avowed republican Humza Yousaf will accept).

But Birkhall will serve as their main base until the early autumn, leaving Balmoral without a monarch physically in residence for the first time since the 19th century. The castle will not remain empty, of course. All family members, I am told, are expected to stay at some point over the next few weeks.

That is, except the Duke and Duchess of Sussex whose ‘open invitation’ to join family gatherings hasn’t exactly been rescinded, but is certainly not expected to be accepted. Relations between father and son, I understand, are still not good, although the family feel encouraged by claims that Harry and Meghan are now determined to focus on the future rather than family recriminations.

‘If true, that can only be a good thing and may offer a sliver of hope that at some point in the future personal relationships can be rebuilt,’ one source close to the family tells me. ‘It’s been a very visibly challenging year when it comes to the Sussexes.’

King Charles, I understand, is not thought to have read his son’s vitriolic memoir Spare yet, but is aware of its contents. ‘Why would he read something that he knows is going to be so hurtful?’ another friend asks.

Contact between Prince William and his brother is non-existent and there doesn’t seem to be a reconciliation in the offing any time soon. ‘You can read the room on that as to where things are [between them],’ says a source, making clear that as far as William is concerned the subject is very much off-limits.

‘It’s sad, but it is what is. This is a family as well as an institution,’ they added.

[From The Daily Mail]

“That is, except the Duke and Duchess of Sussex whose ‘open invitation’ to join family gatherings hasn’t exactly been rescinded, but is certainly not expected to be accepted.” These people. How about: the king would love nothing more to see his redheaded grandchildren, he called Harry personally to invite the whole Sussex family to Scotland! That puts the onus on the Sussexes to accept or decline and Charles comes out of it smelling like a rose. “King Charles, I understand, is not thought to have read his son’s vitriolic memoir Spare” – if Charles, famously a book-lover, ever got around to reading his son’s bestselling memoir, he would discover that Harry actually adores and loves his father.

Meanwhile, Becky English also revealed that Prince Andrew will absolutely go to Balmoral this summer, probably with Fergie and their daughters. Andrew got an invitation too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.