Usually, the royal family is completely predictable. They do the same things, eat the same things and appear in the same places like a Swiss-made precision watch.
Summers are for long weeks in Scotland, the Queen usually takes up residence at her Sandringham estate from December to February 6 (the Christmas decorations are also up until then) and wakes up at the same time, 365 days of the year (At 7.30am by her maid bringing Earl Gray tea.) Queens never fall asleep, it seems.
Likewise, royal birthdays. If it is large and involves one of his sons, there might be an additional Admiralty or earldom offered; in all other cases, it’s a lively social media post featuring an emoji (which always looks a bit incongruous) and a £10 WH Smith voucher. (Okay, the last one I guess.)
However, last week, with no fanfare and little press coverage, the 96-year-old Queen broke with a long tradition for her granddaughter Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s 41st birthday.
His Majesty did… nothing.
Even in the treacherous years after Megxit, 2020 and 2021, we’ve seen the @royalfamily account share posts commemorating the birthdays of Meghan, the couple’s son Archie and their daughter Lilibet.
Until now, the most remarkable thing you could say about this seemingly set-in-stone practice was that the poor Buckingham Palace communications staff tasked with the job have only had one photo of baby Archie and the Queen to work with to roll out all the courses .
But come on Nellie. Something has clearly changed because here we have the Queen essentially blanking Meghan on her birthday. (Or in the immortal words of Mariah Carey, “I don’t know her.”)
Since Meghan joined the official royal ranks in 2018, this is the first time the palace has ignored the above. dresses star on the anniversary, a marked departure from previous polite celebratory offerings.
What makes this situation so puzzling is that recently, the Queen’s strategy when it comes to her troublesome grandson and his wife has been calm, with some signs that Her Majesty was doing her best to minimize tensions .
When Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili arrived in the UK for the Jubilee, according to the Groundthe 90-year-old arranged for three of her protection officers to pick up the family and for a bulletproof car to take them to her UK home, Frogmore Cottage.
Later in June, it was revealed that details of the investigation, carried out by an external law firm, into allegations that Meghan had harassed royal staff were to be “buried”. (The Duchess has always vehemently denied claims of bullying.)
The reason, in part, for the surprise decision was to “limit tensions between the Sussexes and the palace”. time reported
Then, in July, the Ground reported that Her Majesty has extended an invitation to the family to join her for a period during her annual vacation. (Though the chances of them taking it on would surely have to be up there with Princess Michael of Kent entering OnlyFans.)
Until Meghan’s birthday last week, there was no indication that this year’s big day would be any different to all the others, given that even last year, after the dynamite Oprah Winfrey’s interview from Sussex, received warm wishes on social media.
If appearing on global television screens to hurl accusations of racism, cruelty and that palace life is extremely miserable wasn’t enough to mitigate Meghan getting a birthday post last year, what has changed? what gives
The answer may or may not have something to do with Harry’s memoir, which is rumored to hit shelves in October.
At the end of July, the Ground reported that the manuscript was complete and that lawyers for publisher Penguin Random House had finished dotting the “i’s” and tasting the most defamatory claims about corgis (kidding).
The telegraph went on to report that while “the royal family or their lawyers have yet to see the completed manuscript,” they could soon learn some of what the 37-year-old has written because, “by convention, those potentially defamed in writing” . – including the royal family – usually have the right to respond to accusations before they are published.”
While the sovereign herself is unlikely to come for anything more than paragraph after paragraph of obsequious praise, her son Prince Charles, her daughter-in-law and future Queen Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and grandson Prince William may they won’t be so lucky.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been almost constant reports claiming that Harry could be targeting his stepmother.
It looks like the heir to the throne is already putting a spin on his starched and ironed knickers.
“Prince Charles’ agents have been scrambling for months to find out what other bombs they are waiting for, but to no avail,” royal author Christopher Andersen said. The daily beast. “No one expected Harry’s book to be a Valentine to his family. But after the Jubilee, you feel like the gloves have really come off now.”
The perspective remains that although the Sussexes’ Oprah blitzkrieg was very damaging to Buckingham Palace, they still largely managed to weather the strike. Hundreds of pages of lengthy, detailed revelations and disclosures about the lives of the royal family and the operation of the palace could be another kettle of fish entirely.
After all, this is the first sensational account written by someone who was born into the royal family since his fellow exile the Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII) published his account. A royal life, although 15 years after his abdication. (Yes, I know the Duke of Kent published a memoir earlier this year called, err, A royal lifebut I’m not sure if anyone but the Duchess of Kent has read it.)
Like Duncan Larcombe, That of the Sun former royal editor, say it when you speak The daily beast: “The reality is that if, as a senior member of the royal family, you’ve written a tell-all book, you’ve broken the number one rule of the royal family.”
Richard Palmer, royal correspondent of the express, has proposed another theory, reporting that the absence of any kind of warm wishes for Meghan was due to a change in palace policy and that the royal family will “only mark the birthdays of non-working family members when end in a zero.” Proof of that will come on Monday, UK time, when Princess Beatrice turns 34.
Even if this new anniversary arrangement is the case, the fact that Buckingham Palace chose Meghan’s birthday as the time to put the new strategy into action is very surprising.
The bottom line is that regardless of why the @royalfamily decided to give Meghan the go-ahead, being the first non-working member of the House of Windsor to get a royal treat on her birthday, she has a severe tail bite.
After all, if Her Majesty had been concerned that the Los Angeles native’s cold shoulder might inflame tensions, or wanted to keep the peace with the rebellious Sussexes, surely the palace would have waited to launch this new approach in the social media until after the Duchess’s birthday. . Nobody’s going to be up in arms or writing news if Beatrice’s special day isn’t marked now, are they?
While the Queen is currently at Balmoral, settling into the big house after spending two weeks at Craigowan Cottage elsewhere on the estate, there are some rough seas ahead for the royal family. Between September and Christmas, there will be the launch of Harry’s book, the Sussexes’ debut docuseries “at home” for Netflix, the new season of The Crown focusing on the Diana years of the 1990s, the publication of books by two very credible veterans of royal reporting (Valentine Low, who broke the story of Meghan’s harassment, and Angela Levin), the possibility that the Prince Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, could write her own story. -despite the ongoing fallout from Charles’ various questionable financial dealings regarding his charity, including accepting a $1.7 million donation from a brother of Osama bin Laden.
It’s a list that seems to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on to the royal household.
In 2016, Princess Eugenie told a documentary about the Queen’s Scottish estate: “I think grandma is the happiest there… You just have room to breathe and run around.”
For Her Majesty, some long, deep breaths seem like a smart idea at the moment.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with over 15 years’ experience working with several of Australia’s leading media titles.
Read related topics:Meghan MarkleQueen Elizabeth II