I had been lowkey waiting to see if Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair would have any kind of behind-the-scenes scoop on the most recent Sussexit developments, what with the Queen’s bitchy statement about duty and the Sussexes’ “service is universal” clapback. Nicholl did coverage of that stuff as it happened, but usually she’ll wait a day or two to reveal what her (mostly Cambridge) sources are telling her. That has not happened in Vanity Fair (yet). I guess Nicholl was saving her big scoop for Entertainment Tonight. That scoop? That she read the same Times of London article which everyone already discussed, about how Prince William thought the Sussexes’ “service is universal” clapback was “insulting, disrespectful and petulant” and that William is furious, saddened and shocked by the Sussexes’ whole deal. Let’s see what fun new twist Nicholl can put on it:

Nicholl on Harry & Meghan losing their patronages: “I think Harry was both surprised and very disappointed to have had all of his military titles and the royal patronages taken away from him. This was the end result after many days of discussion and my understanding of the Sussexes’ camp is that both the couple were hoping they would be able to retain those royal patronages. Behind the scenes they tried very hard to convince Palace courtiers that even though they are living private lives out of the royal family that they are still committed philanthropists, who remained committed to the charities and the patronages that they’ve represented for the past couple of years.”

How William felt about the Sussexes’ clapback: “He feels that this statement that the Sussexes put out just moments after Buckingham Palace made the announcement was disrespectful. Certainly the feeling at the Palace is that the tone of the email was disrespectful to the monarch. It’s very unusual to hear anyone answer back to the queen, which is essentially, I suppose, what the Sussexes did in that responsive email.”

And to do it all as Philip was in the hospital: “I think also the fact that the queen is very preoccupied at the moment with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, unwell in hospital, suddenly Prince William was feeling very protective.”

[From Entertainment Tonight]

I enjoy the fact that no one can really elucidate why, exactly, everyone on Salty White Folk Isle is super-mad that the Sussexes merely released a statement, which happened to be a statement of fact. “We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.” It was a simple, factual statement which directly contradicted the Queen’s attempt to slime her grandson as lazy and rejecting his duty: “The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.” The Palace made their play: divorce The American and come back to live a life where your duty is to be your brother’s doormat. And Harry responded swiftly and emphatically. That’s it. Anyway, yeah, I’m starting to think that none of these white folks are actually salty about the fact that Harry and Meghan released a statement after the Queen! *clutches royal pearls*

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.