Welcome to this week’s edition of to get all the latest royal news and gossip with Tom Sykes and Tim Teeman.
Security services told Harry to give 28 days’ notice of visits
Prince Harry was informed he should give 28 days notice to the police before coming to the U.K. so his requests for security could be considered, and described the security arrangements made for a 2021 visit as “patchy, disjointed and inadequate.” He said the 28-day notice requirement hindered his “ability to plan for and manage his security arrangements [and] may lead to [his] actual arrangements being inadequate and compromise his ultimate security.”
The disclosures were made as part of a libel claim he is pursuing against the Mail on Sunday. Harry says the paper falsely alleged he misrepresented his willingness to pay for his own police protection.
The Telegraph reports that Prince Harry’s lawyers state that he is “gravely concerned about his safety and security during future trips to the UK” and that he feels he has no choice but to take legal action “given the gravity of what is at stake for him and his family.”
Harry’s lawyers says this is evidenced by his car being “interdicted by paparazzi . . . needlessly placing the Duke of Sussex in a dangerous situation” during the 2021 visit. Harry said in the filing: “I was born into this and the threat will never decrease because of my status regarding the family.”
Oprah: Harry and Meghan should do what’s ‘best for them’
Oprah Winfrey thinks Harry and Meghan “should do what what they feel is best for them” when it comes to attending the Coronation. Winfrey appeared earlier this week on CBS Mornings with longtime friend Gayle King. As reported by People, Oprah replied, “I think they should do what they feel is best for them and for their family. That’s what I think. That’s what the bottom line—it comes down to: What do you feel like is the best thing for you?”
“They haven’t asked me my opinion,” Oprah added.
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey.
Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Winfrey conducted the bombshell interview with the couple in 2021, which laid bare their upset and discontent with the royal family, claiming that a senior royal—who remains unidentified—who questioned the color of their then-unborn baby’s skin. Meghan also detailed the lack of support within the palace she faced when, she said, she had felt suicidal.
This week in royal history
Two major royal separations were announced on this day sixteen years apart. On March 19, 1976, the separation was announced between Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon (aka Antony Armstrong-Jones who she had married in 1970); while on March 19, 1992, the separation was announced between Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson—they had married in 1986.
Unanswered questions
The saga of the Coronation continues—and who will prevail—Harry and Meghan or the Palace—in the power plays around their and their children’s attendance at the May ceremony.
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