In Nottingham on Thursday, Harry and Meghan projected an air of polished confidence and unmistakable triumph.
As my colleague Jan Moir observed from the crowd, their reception had the feel of a Hollywood Bowl appearance rather than a low-key gathering on an industrial estate.
Yet friends of Prince Harry and Meghan say their modest return to public life — including their first UK ‘walkabout’ since Megxit — has brought one striking realisation. ‘They know that some people have come to hate them, and that some people hate what they did,’ I’m told.
That represents a significant admission from Team Sussex. It was shared with me yesterday as supporters sought to explain the importance of the Nottingham engagements and outline what the couple intend to do next.
I’m told Harry and Meghan had been anxious about how the crowd might respond and were relieved by the warm reception, even though the gathering was relatively small. Of the roughly 150 people present, about half were members of the media.
Their friends insist the Sussexes are less focused on those they describe as ‘haters’ — accepting that some people will always criticise them — than on the wider public, which may be less invested in royal disputes. Their aim, they say, is to win over that audience through ‘low key’ and ‘respectful’ appearances.
I’m told Harry and Meghan had genuinely feared the potential reactions of the crowd and were relieved to find a warm welcome, albeit from a small group, writes ALISON BOSHOFF
The Sussexes are determined to win over people who are less engaged with royal drama with ‘low key’ and ‘respectful’ public events
Prince Harry is said to be ‘very pleased’ with the outcome and played a role in organising the day, including asking his wife to wear British designers as a sign of her continuing connection to the country they now call home again.
‘That was a royal visit even if it wasn’t,’ one friend said. ‘They were delighted with the warm welcome. H is delighted.’
I can also reveal that further Harry-and-Meghan appearances are planned — news likely to unsettle their critics within the Palace. The word ‘humble’ is being used to describe the message the couple hoped to convey through meetings with grassroots charities, despite Meghan’s £3,386 outfit.
The suggestion that they might be encroaching on royal territory is also being firmly, if not entirely persuasively, rejected.
A friend of Harry and Meghan told me: ‘They are making efforts to re-enter slowly with humility and hope to win support that way. There is no intention to thumb a nose at the King or cause irritation.
‘This sort of work is what makes Harry happy, it is in his DNA. It is nothing to do with relations with the Royal Family.’
Harry is apparently ‘very pleased’ with how the day in Nottingham went and was involved in planning every aspect, which included visiting a charity tackling poverty and food insecurity
There will be more Harry-and-Meghan outings to come, which will make enemies at the Palace shudder
The criticism surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan’s decision to step away from royal service in 2020, followed by their attacks on the institution — which they described as racist — and their family — which they portrayed as uncaring — in books and television interviews, appears to have faded from the prince’s current outlook. Their departure for California was once described by Harry as a ‘Freedom Flight’.
The couple’s circle believes this week’s engagements marked a breakthrough in public sentiment. The welcome was apparently encouraging enough for Meghan to begin searching seriously for a home in the UK.
Their team had previously said that Harry, Meghan and their children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, left California in August to spend an unspecified period in England. Privately, however, friends have been told that the family intends to remain in Britain until both children have completed their schooling.
During that time, Meghan is expected to travel regularly to the United States to maintain her business interests.
Until now the family have been staying in a house on the estate of a wealthy friend on the fringes of the Cotswolds. Friends confirm they are searching for a new home with lots of land, no public rights of way and nine bedrooms at least. Their budget is £10million.
A friend said this week: ‘I think we are going to see Meghan moving to look more actively at property soon. I know that they have an agent looking at what is available for them in terms of houses and he is sending everything which might suit to their team to look at virtually. I think it’s about to go up a notch.’
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Words like ‘humble’ are also being used to describe the outing – despite Meghan’s £3,386 outfit
As for their public-facing endeavours, the friend adds: ‘They can achieve great support for charities and intend to do so. There will be more days like [Thursday] going forward.
‘People want the old Harry, the Harry who they loved. This was a successful event with no narrative other than supporting the organisations.
‘For security reasons it had the shape of a royal event but that is because, ultimately, that is who they are.’
The positivity expressed by pals runs counter to recent speculation the Sussexes might throw in the towel on this British adventure.
Why? Well, one of the reasons behind the move, to spend time with Harry’s father, King Charles, seems not to have happened. They don’t appear to have seen each other since taking tea back in July.
The King has been busy – with some reports suggesting he’s even too busy to take his son’s calls.
As the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English reported yesterday, there is ‘irritation’ over the quasi-royal engagement this week, which stole the King’s thunder as he and the Queen opened the Senedd in Wales on Thursday.
Another key aspect to the move was Harry’s quest for security provided by the Home Office. Harry has spent six years in fruitless litigation over his desire for security. It seems that his hopes of resolving the security problem have faded as the summer passed.
Friends this week suggest that Harry’s camp are bracing themselves for a yet another ‘no’.
I am told: ‘The liaison team is significant. It’s not just a question of having a phone number to ring any more. There is a bit of a protective bubble there for them now and a pattern has been established.
‘There is a liaison officer embedded with them and he can call on a team as and when he judges it is needed, so they do have more resources now in reality than before. It feels like a middle ground. It’s a support to them.’
That sounds as if his team accept that the status quo may be as good as they are going to get.
The Duke and Duchess travelled in a convoy of two Range Rovers with their own security while Nottinghamshire police provided support with one unmarked police car, one traffic police car and three community policemen on hand.
So the road to unpicking Megxit – as revealed here in July – is being travelled. And the perceived success of this week’s event is a significant staging-post on this journey. Everything looked as if the clock had been wound back.
The pair were even assisted by Clara Loughran, walking a few paces behind. She was the Sussexes’ senior programme coordinator in 2015.
After being let go during Megxit, she went on to set up her own consultancy. This week was the first time she’s been seen with the couple since.
As for their final desired destination, one could do worse than consider the words of a friend who spoke to Hello! Magazine this week, saying that the couple do not consider themselves bound by the Sandringham agreement, the settlement the late Queen hammered out in January 2020, which denied their request to be ‘half-in, half-out’ royals.
The magazine’s royal editor Emily Nash was told: ‘They never agreed they wouldn’t be half in half out. That was what was decided and foisted upon them. They’re just living their lives and they can, because they’re financially independent.’
Now Harry is insisting that he is royal, that can never be changed, and that he will undertake charity work as and whenever he wants because ‘that is who he is’.
If it makes it look as if he’s a working royal, the Sussex logic goes, that is someone else’s problem.
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