SARAH VINE: Peace? No, the Sussexes’ endgame seems to be to ruin the monarchy 

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left Britain, they had a great opportunity to start over. Leaving behind an institution that they felt was not good for them, recovering (in the case of Meghan) their autonomy, looking for new pastures and building a new positive future far from the vicissitudes of public life.

This is not what they have done.

Instead of concentrating on the next chapter, they have held on to their past and allowed it to eat them up.

So immersed are they in their own victimization that they exert all their energies into looking over their shoulders, pointing fingers of blame, and seeking ever more damaging ways to get back at those they perceive have wronged them.

That said, the images released yesterday of Harry dressed as Spider-Man for a Christmas video message to the grieving children of service men and women were a bittersweet reminder of the unassuming guy he used to be.

I can’t help but hope that old Harry is still there somewhere, underneath all the manufactured anger and outrage.

However, that was a rare glimpse. He and his wife seem trapped in a vicious cycle of paranoia, fueled by resentment and revenge, unable to find the freedom they seek. If the situation wasn’t so toxic, you could almost feel sorry for them.

In fact, he used to have some sympathy for his situation, especially for Meghan. Nothing can prepare a person for the level of exposure and criticism that comes with being a member of the Royal Family, and it must have been very difficult for her on several levels.

As for Harry, one is always aware of the trauma he has suffered.

But two wrongs don’t make a right. And any difficulties the couple may have suffered are now being quickly outweighed by the vitriol they have unleashed on their family, and particularly on the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Meghan’s jealousy of Kate, and in particular the way the latter seems to run the business of being a royal consort with a grace and charm that completely defeated the American, is blatantly obvious.

What’s more, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this isn’t some primitive cri de coeur, as we’re all led to believe, but rather a cold, calculated strategy meticulously crafted to inflict maximum damage.

The Sussexes don’t just want to separate from the House of Windsor, they want to burn it to the ground, and they pursue their goal with ruthless intent. What started with that Oprah interview culminated in the trailer for the couple’s Netflix documentary, which airs Thursday.

For something that professes to be about their great love story, the level of hate emanating from the 60-second clip is shocking.

It’s like an interview Meghan gave that coincided with the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death: thinly veiled threats and armed victimhood, now the Sussexes’ trade.

Of course, astute observers have long since caught on to this farce. But we live in a world where victimhood is increasingly encouraged and even idolized.

The latest assault, deadly timed to coincide with the Welsh’s journey to America, will have been swallowed up by the armies of the offended Awakened that the Sussexes have so cleverly recruited to their cause.

And the Lady Susan Hussey debacle is just the icing on the cake. Palace officials may have thought they had acted prudently and swiftly in dispatching Lady Hussey despite 60 years of loyal service to her. But the truth is that her sacrifice has simply whetted the appetite of the hyenas now prowling around.

They smell blood and feel weakness. The House of Windsor is on the defensive. Charles and William must consider their next move very carefully.

Much of their problem is that, until now, they have resisted the temptation to fight dirty. Whenever the Sussexes hit them below the belt, they respond with vertical integrity, apologizing, professing sympathy and extending olive branches where possible.

It has done them much good.

It’s clear that Meghan and Harry see all kindness as a weakness, a chink in the armor to be exploited.

And the truth is that they do not want a reconciliation. Its end is the destruction of the monarchy. They cannot, and must not, win.

Brave Kate stands up for all moms

Kate Winslet has spoken about how parents feel “totally powerless” to help their children navigate the pitfalls of the internet.

“I would like security controls to be more rigorous,” he says.

The actress was speaking in the context of her new film, I Am Ruth (Thursday, Channel 4), about a mother whose daughter’s mental health is destroyed by her obsession with social media.

The film is very important in the context of the online safety bill, which aims to address the material that is destroying the lives of young people.

No amount of so-called “adult” liberties is worth that price.

What did Liz Taylor see in the stinky, drunken Burton?

Excerpts from Elizabeth Taylor’s soon-to-be-published biography reveal the extent of the passion between her and Richard Burton, right.

While filming their first scene together on the set of Cleopatra, Burton was at the end of a two-day binge, his hands shaking so bad he couldn’t bring a cup of coffee to his lips.

One can imagine the stench of stale cigarettes and alcohol, a sweaty upper lip and, most likely, halitosis.

And yet this, apparently, was the moment the crush hit.

Take all kinds I guess.

The long and lasting legacy of confinement

There is a grim inevitability to the rise of normally common infections causing serious illness or death as a result of the waning immunity caused by the lockdown.

Without Covid, six children would never have died from the rise of Strep A bacteria.

On a much lesser level, many normally indestructible people I know have been attacked by viruses.

I still don’t feel 100 percent after coming down with a chest infection in early November.

Further proof of why we should never have succumbed to lockdown, and should never do so again.

What I don’t understand about Lady Susan Hussey’s calamity is why someone so (rightly) proud of their ethnic roots would feel violated by someone else asking about them. If I were to dress head to toe for an event in a Gwisg Gymreig (Welsh national costume), with a leek sash, I would expect to raise questions. It’s not racism, it’s human nature.

How clever of the Princess of Wales to wear a rented gown to the Earthshot Prize Awards. I have tried to rent dresses for special occasions, but I can never find anything for my size, 14-16. Obviously not a problem for Kate. Still, if companies took more, how shall I say? – Rounded approach, more of us would no doubt follow her lead.

As the wife of a cabinet minister during the pandemic, I have read Matt Hancock’s Pandemic Diaries (serialized in The Mail On Sunday, The Mail+ and Daily Mail) with interest. All I’ll say is that his rather Adrian Mole version of events has benefited greatly from hindsight. Or to paraphrase our dear late Queen: ‘Memories may vary’.

Bear Grylls calls his alarm clock an “opportunity clock” as he feels “alarm” has negative connotations. Oh darling. The adventurer wouldn’t want to hear how I call mine when it rings at 7am on a Monday morning…