The Mail’s serialization of Robert Hardman’s fantastic new biography of the king – Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story – was fascinating. It comes out on Thursday and I have already pre-ordered my copy.
The book has shed extraordinary light on the inner workings of today’s monarchy, from the Queen’s death at Balmoral in 2022 to the secret plans for a regency should she become incapacitated during the final years of her life.
But nothing prepared me for today’s front-page revelation that our late Queen was, according to one courtier, “as angry as I have ever seen her” when Harry and Meghan furiously insisted through their lawyers that she had given her consent to them to name their daughter Lilibet – the nickname of the late monarch’s private family.
The Duke of Sussex is about to turn 40, he’s an adult and he needs to start acting like it. In the photo Harry with Meghan in June last year
The Queen’s final months were marred by the Sussexes’ behaviour. Pictured, in her last photo at Balmoral
The Sussexes fired off aggressive legal threats against anyone who dared to suggest that the Queen was less than delighted.
But now, thanks to Robert’s impeccably produced book, it appears that the final years of her reign were overshadowed not only by this extraordinary decision, but also by Harry and Meghan’s thirst for publicity and penchant for airing their grievances on TV and in writing. express.
The queen embodied all the virtues that this couple lacks. She was loyal, dedicated, hardworking and driven by a sense of duty every day of her life – sometimes, if we are honest, at the expense of her own family and happiness. She always put the nation first.
The nickname ‘Lilibet’ came about when the future queen was a small child and charmingly struggled to pronounce ‘Elizabeth’. In its cozy informality it speaks of a happy, now vanished era spent with her parents, George VI and the Queen Mother, as well as Princess Margaret. She must have always associated it with those quiet, private family moments.
When I read the revelations in Robert’s book, my heart almost broke for the king. What a burden he has had to bear in recent years as his youngest son and his wife shared countless private details about the family and started feuds with the media.
How painful it must have been for Charles to see his ailing mother so angry over the behavior of his own son and daughter-in-law – and then to lose her, knowing how she had felt in her final years, and having to comfort the nation. Thank goodness he has Camilla to keep him grounded.
Why do the Sussexes, and Harry in particular, continue to behave this way? I have often said that Diana’s death could have been behind it: we all remember that little boy walking behind his mother’s coffin, and we can only imagine how terrible it must have been for him to have the eyes of the world to see watching.
But William also continued walking that day. William also lost his mother and suffered the same pain and grief, and yet his behavior was exemplary – very different from Harry’s.
The Duke of Sussex is about to turn 40: he’s grown up and he needs to start acting like it.
All his endless therapy sessions don’t seem to have given him the tools to put his experiences into perspective.
Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet, left, was named in tribute to the Queen, pictured right as a child aged three or four
He doesn’t seem to realize that while he has undoubtedly suffered personal loss, he is one of the most privileged people on earth – and not one of the most burdened. The death of a parent at a young age is not an excuse to behave poorly toward your loved ones while growing up; in fact, the opposite is true.
In his memoir, Spare, among other revelations, Harry chose to tell the world that he lost his virginity in a field. But how strange that in the same book Harry did not reveal the details of the telephone conversation in which the Queen would give her blessing to him and Meghan to name their daughter Lilibet.
That tells us everything, I think.