In case you missed it, once the Princess of Wales’s cancer-announcement video dropped last Friday, Kensington Palace basically authorized yet another full-throttle hate campaign against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. KP has been in the trenches for two months, trying desperately to change the subject or deflect from their clownery and mismanagement. This is their big inflection point: Kate is being treated for cancer, and oh by the way, William and Kate still “f–king hate” Harry and Meghan and here are all the reasons why. Of course Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast got yet another exclusive from KP’s perspective.
Friends of Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton have told The Daily Beast that they would not welcome the “drama” a visit by Prince Harry would entail, and said Kate and William are focused on protecting their privacy as she receives treatment for and recovers from cancer. The comments add to a sense that while Harry and Meghan Markle appear keen to paint themselves as eager to reconcile with the royals after over two years of very public attacks on them—indeed, Harry said before his furious attacks in Spare had even been published that he wanted his father and brother “back” as “a family, not an institution”—William and Kate remain uninterested in the prospect, both privately and publicly.
William and Kate have notably not responded to a series of semi-public overtures aimed at restoring fraternal relations initiated by Harry. They were devastated and enraged by Harry’s decisions to, as they saw it, sell intimate family secrets in his memoir, Spare. Friends of William, a famously obstinate man, have previously told The Daily Beast he “f–king hates” Harry and sees no chance of reconciliation.
The Sussexes were not informed of Kate’s diagnosis before the news was made public, which clearly shows that they are not considered part of Kate and William’s trusted circle. They issued a public statement wishing “health and healing for Kate and the family” after the news was made public, and ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship subsequently reported they had “reached out privately” to Kate and William.
Kate’s office refused to make any comment on the claims, and did not respond to requests for comment from The Daily Beast about whether William would agree to see Harry in May, when he is due to visit the U.K. to attend a church service commemorating the ten year anniversary of the Invictus Games. Friends of the couple were more forthcoming, with the answer being a hard no.
One friend of William and Kate’s said: “Catherine and William have been very clear they want peace and quiet for them and the kids. A visit from Harry, with all the drama that would bring, would be the opposite of that.”
Another friend said: “They have come to terms with the estrangement from Harry, and are content to let sleeping dogs lie.”
Asked if they had responded to the private messages from Harry and Meghan, which were also reported by the Telegraph, or if William wanted an apology from Harry for his attacks on him and his wife in his memoir Spare and his Netflix documentary, the second friend said: “They have bigger things to worry about.”
It is notable how resolute William and Kate’s camp are being when it comes to rejecting the notion of responding to overtures from Harry and Meghan. When Harry visited Charles after his cancer diagnosis and his camp suggested he would take a meeting with William if it was offered, William’s camp quickly said there were “no plans for them to meet.”
Royal commentator Duncan Larcombe, former royal editor at the Sun, told The Daily Beast: “Harry and Meghan have got some sense so they know it is important to be seen to be extending the olive branch, especially given that global sympathy is with Kate right now. But William and Kate don’t need long memories to recall that not too far back they were being subjected to very harmful allegations, to which, incidentally, it was impossible for them to come back and answer and have their say. So it’s not very surprising that Harry doesn’t really matter to them right now. A cancer diagnosis puts things in perspective.”
“The Sussexes were not informed of Kate’s diagnosis before the news was made public, which clearly shows that they are not considered part of Kate and William’s trusted circle.” Many outlets keep repeating variations of this, like it’s a very big deal that the Sussexes weren’t informed about Kate’s medical situation in advance, but after watching KP’s activities this year, it’s not clear to me that Kensington Palace’s senior staff even had any idea about the cancer diagnosis, or anything about Kate’s situation for two months. It doesn’t even seem like Buckingham Palace knew anything until last week. The story is actually that KP was disorganized and everything was amateurish, not that the Sussexes were somehow being “snubbed” by not being told in advance.
Besides that, the coldness between the couples is from both sides – I doubt the Sussexes expected to be told about Kate’s issues, and they released a brief statement of support and got on with their lives. Will and Kate are the ones running around, screaming, crying and throwing up about how they’re too immature and racist to even speak to the Sussexes.
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