Changes that King Charles III has in mind for the royal family

King Charles III may have extended the public olive branch to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – but that doesn’t mean the new monarch will let the couple get away dry whatever they want.

In his first speech as king on Friday, he spoke to the Commonwealth and even to the whole world after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the day before. In addition to paying her a touching tribute, Charles also named his son William the new Prince of Wales and added: “I also want to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives abroad.”

One of the initiates of the palace told Page Six, “It was a signal from the king that Harry is still a very close member of his loving family.”

It shows up, of course, after a few tough years, starting with the reported rift between Harry and William allegedly about an affair with Markle that moves too fast. Harry and Meghan announce that they are resigning from their royal duties and leaving for America. A queen depriving a couple of HRH titles. A bombing interview with Oprah Winfrey in which Markle, who has a black mother and white father, accused an older family member of questioning the complexions of the couple’s children. Harry tells Winfrey that he felt “trapped” as a king. Markle recently told The Cut that her husband “lost” his father in the midst of it all.

So a very personal display of the king’s love was “the public olive branch,” says one Sussex source. “It was very wise and nice for Charles to include that line.”

Royal Insider added: “One speech won’t fix a family, but it’s a good start.”

Nevertheless, a person at Buckingham Palace who worked behind the gates for years said Charles and his team might not be as kind to Harry and Meghan’s “whims” as the Queen, who was very fond of the couple.

“There is no way Charles’s team is so generous in turning the cheek and not calling them,” said a Buckingham insider. For example, after Harry told his family that he and Markle wanted to be private citizens: “They shouldn’t use their titles everywhere. It wasn’t on the table.

While they don’t use their former HRH titles, the couple “took advantage” of using their names, including on their Spotify and Netflix contracts, according to a Hollywood insider.

“Yes, they have benefited from using their names,” said a Hollywood expert. “It gives them access to the relationships and projects they earn.”

We’ll see if the next week before Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service, scheduled for Monday, September 19, will help to defrost the ice. But they are a family united in sorrow even when divided.

“I know that for now everyone in the family is mourning, concentrating on it,” said another royal informant. “It is hard to remember that this is a family that lost its mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. It’s still very early.

Queen Elizabeth died “peacefully,” announced Buckingham Palace at Balmoral, the place where she and her beloved husband, Prince Philip, died last yearhe had spent so many happy days.

She died that afternoon and most of her close relatives – including grandsons William and Harry, sons Prince Andrew and Edward, and her daughter-in-law Sophie Wessex – arrived too late to say goodbye.

With the queen were her heir and eldest son, Charles, and her daughter, Princess Anne, royal princess, who were already in Scotland.

While the others arrived around 4pm, Harry didn’t make it until just before 8pm – almost an hour and a half after Buckingham Palace announced the monarch’s death on social media and television, raising questions as to why the brothers were traveling separately.

However, Page Six tells one well-known source that there was “absolutely no decision to exclude” Harry. The source added that the king had already asked his siblings to come to Balmoral to see his sick mother before her health deteriorated sharply.

It is believed that early on Thursday morning Charles asked William to fly over and attend a Privy Council meeting in his role, as Charles would have had to replace the ailing queen.

At this point, it was not yet clear what the next few hours would bring.

“That’s why you didn’t see the other grandchildren on this flight,” said the source.

Initially, Page Six was told that Harry and Markle were on their way separately, but “in coordination” with the rest of the family.

A few minutes later, the story changed: Harry would be traveling alone.

“The tensions were so high that Meghan had no way of going to Balmoral,” said one of the palace’s high-ranking residents on Friday.

“The fact that the Sussex camp said that both Harry and Meghan were leaving – and then quickly withdrew that statement – will tell you all you need to know about the drama behind the scenes.”

But the changes taking place within the royal family are not limited to Sussexes.

In her public speech on Monday – recorded in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen recorded some of her Christmas messages – glassy eyes
Charles renewed his mother’s pledge of “lifetime service.”

He also said he would rely on his family as he took on a role for which he spent over 70 years preparing.

“I am counting on the loving help of my beloved wife, Camilla,” said Charles, adding that “in recognition of her own loyal public service since we were married 17 years ago, she becomes my queen consort.”

The king also named William Prince of Wales, a title he himself held before the queen’s death.

“With Catherine next to him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales, I know, will continue to inspire and lead our national talks, helping to move the marginal to a central place where essential help can be given,” said Charles.

Finishing his speech, he said, “Let the herds of angels sing to you to rest.”

This was a reference to the lyrics of John Tavener’s song “Song for Athene” that was performed at Diana’s funeral when her retinue departed Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997.
The text itself borrows a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Diana remained Princess of Wales, albeit with JKP, until her death. And although Kate Middleton is adopting the title once held by the most famous woman in the world, a royal source said Friday that a mother of three would “do things her own way over time.”

“I think Catherine greatly appreciates the past and understands the previous title holder,” said the royal source.

Following King Charles’s speech, Diana’s former private secretary Patrick Jephson was asked by CBS News about his thoughts on seeing Charles go to Buckingham Palace with his wife Camilla – the woman who broke up Diana’s marriage.

“History is history. The royals like us to remember their glorious past and here and there would like us not to remember their less glorious moments, ”said Jephson.

“I think it will be an ongoing fundamental challenge for the new governments. People will be looking at Charles and Camilla, and many of us also remember Princess Diana. It’s ironic that Camilla was the third person in Diana’s marriage and Diana is in many ways the third person during the reign of Charles, and that’s just history. “

He added that William, as the immediate heir to the throne, now had “remarkable maturity in his approach to public duties.

“Now is the day when he really needs to take a step forward. Theoretically, he could become king tomorrow… that’s the way he and his advisers must be now… When I worked for the Prince and Princess of Wales, we knew they could become king and queen at any moment.

As the royals enter a period of mourning that will last up to seven days after the queen’s funeral, Majesty’s editor-in-chief Joe Little told Page Six that we should expect Charles to be coronated next summer.

And this raises questions about what could happen to Prince Andrew’s finances, as it has long been speculated that the Queen financed his lifestyle.

“We know it is funded by money from the possessions of the Queen’s Duchy of Lancaster, but the exact details of it are shrouded in a haze of pea soup proportions,” author David McClure previously told the UK Press Association.

But Charles, along with William, spearheaded a petition for his disgraced brother to be removed from public service following the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, and Andrew was sued by Virginia Giuffre on sexual abuse charges, which he found in February for a fixed sum. be around $ 12 million.

And while all of the Queen’s children will receive an inheritance, it is hard to imagine that Charles would still want to finance his brother, who is no longer a working member of the royal family.

The new king also said earlier that he planned to improve the monarchy and its finances.

But Little remarked, “There aren’t really many family members to cut off,” adding that those who remained “are in the roles.

“While it would be hard to think that Charles would somehow become king, he wouldn’t change his family – in theory, they have to bow and bow to him – I don’t think his relationship with his siblings will change,” said Little.

“Their role is to support him in every way possible, just as they supported their mother until Thursday.”