Duke of Sussex says he is happier with series than news stories about Meghan or his family
The Duke of Sussex has defended the Netflix series The Crown, saying that – while it was not “strictly accurate” – it portrayed the pressures of royal life.
In an interview with James Corden for the US programme The Late Late Show, Prince Harry said he minded the intrusions of the media into his family’s life much more than the miniseries, which was “obviously fiction”.
Continue reading...Awkward timing lays bare fractures in royal family
On the last Commonwealth Day, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared in public with the Queen and other senior royals for a final time before they departed the UK for North America.
One year on, and the fracturing of the royal family is clearly marked as the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appear in a special televised broadcast to celebrate the Commonwealth, while hours later the Sussexes appear on TV in the US for an “intimate” and “wide-ranging” interview with Oprah Winfrey about their experience of leaving the royal fold.
Continue reading...Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII’s hospital in London on Tuesday after feeling unwell
The Prince of Wales has visited his father the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital.
Philip, 99, was admitted to King Edward VII’s hospital in London on Tuesday evening as a precautionary measure after feeling unwell and walked unaided into the medical centre.
Continue reading...Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII’s hospital in London after feeling unwell
The Duke of Edinburgh is expected to remain in hospital for “observation and rest” into next week, sources have said.
Prince Philip was admitted to King Edward VII’s hospital on Tuesday evening after feeling unwell and walked unaided into the medical centre.
Continue reading...Tumultuous exit of Canada’s governor general prompts questioning of role and monarchy
The tumultuous exit of Canada’s governor general has left Canadians questioning the need for a constitutional monarchy, according to new polling which shows that 55% of respondents believe the royal family is no longer relevant.
In Canada, the governor general is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The role has long been seen as largely ceremonial, but moved to the political centre stage last month when Julie Payette stepped down from her position amid allegations of bullying and harassment of staff.
Continue reading...Analysis: Couple’s treatment by a critical UK press made any return as working royals unlikely
The decision by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to permanently step down as working royals comes as no surprise.
When they first announced their wish to no longer perform royal duties, and to become financially independent – blindsiding Buckingham Palace by making their intentions public before matters had been negotiated with the Queen – it was hard to see how they could return.
Continue reading...Duke and Duchess of Sussex to give up honorary military appointments and royal patronages
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not return as working members of the royal family, Buckingham Palace has said.
Prince Harry and Meghan are also giving up their royal patronages. The announcement follows weeks of speculation about their future as the one-year review of their position, announced at the time they moved away from the UK, neared.
Continue reading...Duke of Edinburgh taken to King Edward VII’s hospital in London, Buckingham Palace says
The Duke of Edinburgh has been admitted to hospital after feeling unwell, Buckingham Palace said.
Prince Philip, who is 99, was admitted on the advice of his doctor and a palace statement said it was a precautionary measure.
Continue reading...Famous past appearances suggest Harry and Meghan should be wary of opening up to Oprah
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are due to give a “wide-ranging” interview with Oprah Winfrey next month, and according to a source the couple will not want to say anything to undermine their love and respect for the Queen. However, when royals face TV interviewers, it doesn’t always go to plan, as previous examples illustrate.
Continue reading...‘Tell-all’ interview announcement has prompted reports it will lead to couple being stripped of patronages
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not wish to embarrass the Queen despite frenzied speculation over their planned “wide-ranging” interview with Oprah Winfrey, it is understood.
The announcement by CBS of a “tell-all” intimate account by Harry and Meghan of their “Megxit” departure from the UK has led to reports it is the final straw for an exasperated Buckingham Palace who will strip the couple of their royal patronages.
Continue reading...Couple, who are expecting second child, to give first interview since quitting as senior royals
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will break their silence in their first interview since quitting their roles as senior royals when they sit down with Oprah Winfrey next month.
Prince Harry and Meghan, who revealed on Sunday they are expecting their second child, announced their plans to step back from the royal family on 8 January last year.
Continue reading...The Sussexes’ baby announcement shared on Valentine’s Day is a confident image of defiance that seems to take us inside their love – granny must find it utterly baffling
The Duke of Sussex’s left foot steals the show. His knobbly toes shove themselves into the foreground, bulging out to rhyme with his wife’s baby bump. Misan Harriman, the Nigerian-born photographer and friend of Meghan who took the picture remotely from his home in Woking, has created an unbuttoned romantic pastoral that doesn’t so much rebel against royal portraiture as bring it to an end.
Producing babies has been the primary business of royalty since time immemorial. Harry and Meghan’s new child will be eighth in line to the British throne, but the picture tells us quite flamboyantly the Sussexes are not in Britain and have no desire to be. It is a confident image of defiance. A cup of California dreamin’. The garden looks semi-tropical. Harriman’s preference for black and white gives the sun-kissed lawn a lovely silvery glow that sets the couple almost in a vision of paradise. But at the same time, their intimate casualness – those toes again – is intended to show us they are anchored to the reality that matters.
Continue reading...Couple share picture of Harry resting his hand on Meghan’s head as she lies in his lap cradling her bump
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed that they are expecting a younger brother or sister for their one-year-old son, Archie.
A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan said: “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.”
Continue reading...Judge gives summary judgment in favour of royal over extracts of letter to estranged father, Thomas Markle
The Duchess of Sussex has won her high court privacy case against the Mail on Sunday, hailing her victory as a “comprehensive win” over the newspaper’s “illegal and dehumanising practices”.
After a two-year legal battle, a judge granted summary judgment in Meghan’s favour over the newspaper’s publication of extracts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
Continue reading...Royals used secretive procedure to approve laws that gave special exemptions to Duchy of Cornwall
The royal family has used a secretive procedure to vet three parliamentary acts that have prevented residents on Prince Charles’ estate from buying their own homes for decades, the Guardian can reveal.
His £1bn Duchy of Cornwall estate was later given special exemptions in the acts that denied residents the legal right to buy their own homes outright.
Continue reading...Exclusive: secretive procedure used to review laws ranging from Brexit trade deal to inheritance and land policy
More than 1,000 laws have been vetted by the Queen or Prince Charles through a secretive procedure before they were approved by the UK’s elected members of parliament, the Guardian has established.
The huge number of laws subject to royal vetting cover matters ranging from justice, social security, pensions, race relations and food policy through to obscure rules on car parking charges and hovercraft.
Continue reading...Monarch dispatched private solicitor to secure exemption from transparency law
The Queen successfully lobbied the government to change a draft law in order to conceal her “embarrassing” private wealth from the public, according to documents discovered by the Guardian.
A series of government memos unearthed in the National Archives reveal that Elizabeth Windsor’s private lawyer put pressure on ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public.
Continue reading...The monarch is not supposed to meddle in parliament. But that key principle is now in doubt
The Queen does not meddle in the affairs of parliament. That is a cornerstone of Britain’s system of constitutional monarchy. Or at least it is supposed to be.
The Guardian’s investigation into the secretive power of Queen’s consent, whereby the monarch is provided with advance sight of draft laws and invited to approve them, casts this fundamental assumption into doubt.
Continue reading...In a highly competitive field, the American actor has perfected the put-upon princess look for Spencer, the latest royal biopic
Some films have to work harder than others to get bums on seats. Some can charm audiences with big stars, or the lure of a continuing franchise, or the promise of a scene where King Kong takes a swing at Godzilla like he’s half-cut in a Wetherspoons car park. And then, right at the other end of the scale, is Spencer.
Make no mistake, Spencer will have to be brilliant to make people go and see it. Better than brilliant, even. It will have to be the perfect movie; entertaining and fun and moving and so technically accomplished that film historians will come to view it as the moment that cinema entered a new epoch. Anything less than that and Spencer is done for.
Continue reading...