The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been back in Britain for nearly 50 days, yet their return already feels less like a recent development than an episode from another age.
Perhaps some people expected Harry and Meghan to maintain a discreet, respectful distance out of consideration for the King and the country. That expectation, however, was quickly swept away.
Let’s be honest: this latest chapter of “Megxit” has been disorderly from the beginning, marked by a family relocation that appeared impulsive, unpredictable and difficult to follow.
Speaking to GQ magazine this week, Prince Harry offered a rather airy explanation for moving his family from California to the Cotswolds. “When certain stars align,” he said, and it becomes apparent that something is likely to happen, “we lean into that.” It was an account of a major international move that seemed to come without warning—and, apparently, without much advance notice to his father.
The language made Harry sound less like a prince explaining a family decision and more like a teenager recording his emotions in a glitter-covered diary, struggling to find the right words for what he really means.
So far, the Sussexes have been seen at a pub, Harry was booed during a rugby appearance, their children changed schools, and Meghan introduced a chocolate range priced at £5 a bar. The couple also travelled to Nottingham for a highly visible charity engagement designed, at least in part, to maintain their public royal profile.
At a Nottingham foodbank, Meghan appeared determined to demonstrate her concern, enthusiastically helping to pack tins into plastic bags while speaking and posing questions with evident energy.
The scene invited a stream of theatrical questions: Were the baked beans individually wrapped? How difficult was it to cut up a pineapple? Did anyone know that Tesco was her favourite opera? Could she donate a morning’s jam profits to the local Chimney Sweep Society? And when volunteers said to place a tin in a bag and keep moving, what precisely did they mean?
“When certain stars align,” Prince Harry told GQ this week, “and it’s clear that this should or probably will end up being the case, then we lean into that.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been back in the UK for nearly 50 days, though Jan Moir writes that their return already feels far longer.
Harry, meanwhile, delivered an online lesson about grief featuring a section titled “Turn Pain Into Purpose.” It was almost “Turn Pain Into Profit”—a slip that would have seemed fitting given how prominently he has discussed his anguish throughout adulthood. With the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death approaching, references to his mother are becoming increasingly frequent, and some observers are tiring of the constant focus.
There is no question that losing his mother at the age of 12 was a devastating tragedy for Harry.
But acknowledging that pain does not mean denying an equally difficult truth: bereavement can be survived, and the only route through overwhelming grief is to endure it as best one can.
“I’ve done different forms of therapy and I put in the work,” Harry said this week. That is undoubtedly positive, even if the statement has the polished quality of a celebrity discussing the burdens of a particularly privileged life.
For me, the most revealing moment so far came in Harry’s characteristically irritable GQ interview. It exposed more than he may have intended.
Harry said he wanted to repair relations with his family because life is short. He then appeared to direct blame towards someone—perhaps Prince William, perhaps a figure from a children’s story, perhaps anyone the audience cared to name—before later insisting that no accusation had been intended.
If Harry cannot express himself plainly in these interviews, perhaps he should reconsider giving them. The pattern is familiar: an initial statement, followed by an apology, a rebuttal or a carefully worded clarification.
He presented himself as the wounded family member seeking peace, yet the same apparent desire for reconciliation is rarely discussed in relation to his estrangement from Thomas Markle.
Harry said he wants to rebuild family relationships, including with his brother William, because life is too short.
It is worth remembering that the next time Harry and Meghan are seen embracing strangers and presenting themselves as the ultimate champions of charitable causes.
Harry also talked about his fight with the British Press and how he wants to protect journalists. This came as a shock to many of my colleagues, whom he falsely accused of gross misconduct in his recent court case against this newspaper. He and his co-claimants comprehensively lost and now face legal bills in the millions.
But instead of being embarrassed or ashamed or even apologising, Harry is incorrigible, deluded and obsessed.
He ran away from England, he is a loser in court and had few successes in America.
One of the main reasons he has returned is because – like a salmon swimming upstream to spawn – he has a need, an elitist’s desire to have his children educated at the same kind of exclusive, expensive establishments with selective admission policies which he himself attended. He may claim to hate tradition and the Establishment but, at heart, he’s just another posh drone.
Meghan, with her sprinkles and faux bonhomie, is hard enough to bear but Prince Harry is far worse. He has notions.
What Re-Megxit has proved beyond doubt is that he sees himself as a hero who is both righteous and wronged, as both crusader and victim, as a man who is above reproach and beneath the dignity of accountability.
Now I understand why Prince William always looks so haunted, how the King keeps a careful distance, why courtiers pull down the portcullis at the mention of his name.
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For Harry is a one-man riot, a looter trying to smash and grab his way back into The Firm, convinced of the imperative and his self-appointed role as moral custodian and hero.
Peacemaker, Prince, pest, the great pretender.
He is just never going to stop until he gets his way.
Girls need Curie & Co as role models
Marie Curie was the first person – not just the first woman – to win two Nobel Prizes. In two different branches of science. She discovered radium and coined the word ‘radioactivity’.
Her research and work were world renowned. When she was once asked how it felt to marry a genius, she replied: ‘Go and ask my husband.’
Marie Curie was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, yet she does not get a mention on the current GCSE science curriculum
Girls should be learning about her in science lessons – and be inspired by her example. Instead she doesn’t even get a mention on the current GCSE science curriculum – and neither does Lise Meitner, who was involved in the discovery of nuclear fission. However, 85 men do feature. Of course they do.
A report from Cambridge academics has found that girls could be put off taking science and maths A-levels because of the dearth of women and females on the syllabus.
It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out. Disgraceful.
Things aren’t so bad after all thanks to M&S Kathryn
Kathryn Turner is the director of product development for Marks & Spencer’s food departments. She has become a huge success online, going viral on TikTok and Instagram with more than half a million followers who enjoy her videos featuring new and improved items from the M&S food range.
I say unlikely – but her success is no surprise to those of us who are devotees of her brisk and oddly fascinating content. ‘I want to talk to you about our pasta sauces,’ Kathryn will begin, and I am gripped.
‘Our chocolate is only ever made with cocoa butter and our Belgian range has had a massive glow up,’ is the kind of thing she will say. ‘You’ve probably noticed we’ve gone a little bit wild on grapes this year,’ she says, as the camera follows her down the M&S fruit aisle and we all nod along in happy contentment.
What is the secret of Kathryn’s success? She is a natural – who is so natural. And that is so unusual. It is delightful to watch someone nonweldable, fresh, businesslike, informative – but most importantly, someone who is not trying to be a star. Kathryn is always in her M&S barrel trousers with her lanyard stuffed in her pocket and her specs on her nose.
Kathryn Turner, director of product development for M&S’s food departments, has gone viral on TikTok
She is as enthusiastic about her products as she is about her job. I like her sensible jerseys, her crisp blouses, her barely brushed hair. She embodies something decent and steady about the brand and watching her makes one think, maybe things are not so bad.
‘Have you noticed we’ve started selling most of our beans in jars?’ she asked recently.
I hadn’t but felt oddly comforted by this news. Thank you, Kathryn!
Sunday Rose says it is not fair she has been labelled a ‘nepo baby’, just because she is the daughter of singer Keith Urban and actress Nicole Kidman. Yes, she became a model at 16 and made her Met Gala debut in May wearing Dior, but come on. Give a girl a break. Just like mummy and daddy did.
‘I’m very aware that I’m given opportunities that not everyone can have and I’m truly grateful to be able to take advantage of them,’ Sunday Rose said.
‘So, when I’m at work, I make sure to always give my best, never come to work with a negative attitude, no matter how tired or jet-lagged I may be and treat everyone with respect.’
No bad attitudes! She treats everyone with respect!
I’d say this 18-year-old is going to go far – if she hadn’t already got there.
Dua and Cal… two cute
Pop star Dua Lipa and actor Callum Turner are just so damn glam. I love their look! They walk out for dinner and it looks like a scene from a 1950s Italian film.
Dua Lipa, who has a demanding career as a huge pop star, married Callum Turner this summer
They attend the opera in New York and their very appearance is operatic in itself. The couple married this summer and to manage their demanding global careers they have a golden two-day rule – they are never apart for more than 48 hours.
Charming and romantic – but it won’t last.
When you get to my age you can never be together for more than 48 hours! Make the most of it, kids.
