With the third day of the Queen’s platinum jubilee done and dusted off, there seems to be something curious about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and her family.
Welcome to the Royal Precinct, Lindsay Wallace!
The Windsor house has had a new bit player enter the stage this weekend in the form of the new bride of the Queen’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips.
First they were seen at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the Epsom Derby (his hat was appropriately dizzying) and then Wallace and Phillips found themselves directly in the crosshairs of a 1001 camera sitting behind their uncle Prince Charles at the party at the Palace concert.
However, the most interesting photo, the most fascinating photo of the platinum jubilee of the kneeling queen so far is the one we haven’t seen: that of the 96-year-old monarch who knows her one-year-old namesake, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. .
On Saturday, Lili, Harry and Meghan, the second son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, marked their first birthday in the UK with reports suggesting a small family party at the Windsor House in Sussex, Frogmore Cottage.
Most notably, the same day was also devoted to the grand introduction of Lilibet senior to Lilibet junior.
Some reports have suggested that the meeting took place on Thursday after Trooping the Color at Buckingham Palace, but this has not been confirmed. It would also have been an illogical way of doing things: why Harry and Meghan are dragging a baby for an hour in a car in central London to meet their great-grandmother when they are less than a 10 minute drive away. the other in Windsor?
The Queen’s Twitter accounts, Prince Charles and William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, came out quickly on Saturday morning, UK time, all sharing warm and almost identical birthday wishes. In all publications, no image was clearly absent.
So why is Lili’s media blackout?
After all, the world first saw Her Majesty’s 11th great-granddaughter in December last year, when the Sussex released a Christmas card starring Lili and her adorable big brother Archie, who now has three years, the button as perfectly designed and crafted as it could. have been duplicated as Ralph Lauren’s ad.
The most obvious argument against releasing an image of Her Majesty and Lili is this: If the Palace had thrown a picture of it together, says the Queen Cradle sweetly, then it would have blown up all the rest of the Jubilee’s cover. out of the water. and out of the front pages, thus undermining the relentless approach they try to maintain in the monarch who makes history and aligning King Charles III with the public imagination.
That’s a reason that, for me anyway, doesn’t really hold up. Many of the front pages of the UK on Saturday featured the Sussex turn in the Queen’s Thanksgiving service at St Paul’s, although their new low status meant they were diverted to sit at the second row and behind line 31. on the throne, the Duke of Gloucester.
No matter how long the Palace will put the duet in its place and point out how expendable they are for the monarchy, the reality is that Harry and Meghan could have sat behind a pole in the back of the church with bags on their bosses, but the fact that they were back in the same room as Charles and the Cambridgeers was always going to have great media coverage.
This was the first time the two Sussex had met face to face with the Windsors in public since the detonation of their interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they denounced institutional racism at the Palace, and the Duchess. revealed that he joined. the royal ranks had driven him to experience suicidal thoughts.
What I mean is that when we get back together in the UK, the presence of Harry and Meghan would always be a bit of a distraction, so why not use it for the benefit of Buckingham Palace?
I think the courtiers and helpers have lost a trick here.
Imagine if we had seen this photo of the queen and Lili: it would have been a powerful checkmate by Her Majesty in the PR chess game that the Sussex seem determined to play with the Palace.
The most obvious message would have been that the Jubilee girl was the oldest person, and regardless of the sins of Lili’s parents at prime time, the queen was, and always would be, an adorable great-grandmother. She would have seemed indulgent and loving, very much against the image of the cold-hearted royal family that Harry and Meghan’s claims have shown them.
This photo would also have served as a line that was drawn under the agitation and drama instigated by Sussex. One wants to move on.
In short, the release of a shot from Queen and Lili would have meant that the royal house would return to command of the situation and reclaim the narrative instead of letting Harry and Meghan call the media as they have been.
An added advantage of our imaginary photo here is that it would also have served as some sort of antidote to the predominant bitterness odor that seemed to flow during the Sussex Jubilee apparitions.
So far, Harry and Meghan have behaved flexibly and performed at their best: there has been no public histrionics or attempts by a Netflix film crew to enter St Paul’s, nor does it appear to be ‘have put. a lot of effort.
On Thursday, after Trooping, the entire royal family, working and non-working, went down to Buckingham Palace for a slap lunch. (Here we hope the queen sends someone to her 38,000-bottle cellar to get a few decent bottles for the occasion.) Some reports suggest that Harry and Meghan didn’t go.
Also, the events of Friday. After the Thanksgiving service, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “refused to attend” the reception at the London Guildhall, according to the Telegraph, although the rest of the expanded troop of Windsors gathered. (We have Princess Anne’s son-in-law, Mike Tindall, to thank for sharing a cheeky, funny photo of his wife Zara and his cousin Princess Eugenie looking like they’re making a ball at lunch).
Ditto the Saturday night concert at the Palace where the Sussex didn’t show up. (Yes, it was Lili’s birthday, but the explosion, starring many other Alicia Keys, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Lin-Manuel Miranda, began at 8pm, probably after the children went to bed .)
The general impression is that the couple seems to be doing their best to qualify for the event.
The question to be asked at this point is whether the Sussex keep their distance from the royal family outside of major official events could have something to do with Harry’s upcoming memoirs and the “home” documentary series they are filming for. Netflix? ? Or are they just such toxic things between Charles and Diana, the children of the Princess of Wales who can’t bear to be even in the most vague closeness to each other?
When Charles took to the stage during the Palace concert, he asked the crowd of 10,000 to applaud so loudly that his “mummy” could be heard at Windsor Castle, 34 miles away, and they complied. Even the most stony of hearts and the most fervent Republicans among us could not help but be moved by so much warmth and gratitude.
Although yes, the Jubilee is essentially an elaborate marketing exercise, an opportunity for the Palace to regain support for the crown and sell the monarchy to the younger generations, but it is also a nation that thanks the nonagenarian who has been inflexible. in his lifelong commitment to a job he never wanted.
And that’s exactly what seems to be missing from the Sussex’s return to the UK – it looks like they haven’t gotten into the agitating spirit of the four-day-long Union Jack weekend and so far haven’t managed to get into public with enthusiasm. swing of this extraordinary and historic moment.
One thing that Harry and Meghan have firmly maintained is their respect for the Queen, and yet at this time when the whole nation of Britain and much of the world is showing their gratitude to Her Majesty, the Sussex are han anat AWOL.
Where is the enthusiasm? Where is there any demonstrable demonstration of joy on their part to have achieved such a remarkable milestone?
On Sunday, the entire royal family, including their children, is expected to attend the evening’s jubilee event in the mall and around St. James Park. Will Harry and Meghan make an appearance or will they continue to divert any optional outings that would mean a very close proximity to William and Kate? (Surely the two couples could keep a polite distance from each other, and the princes have a lifetime of experience plastering a cheerful face in public.)
During the tribute to Charles, he said of the queen, “Keep making history.” Unfortunately, so do the Sussex and for all the wrong reasons.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with over 15 years of experience working with several of Australia’s leading media titles.