Harry and Meghan’s Nottingham Cheers Were Encouraged? Royal Reporters Reveal Awkward Detail

0:03 Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Harry and Meghan's visit to Nottingham has reopened a question the royal family thought it had settled six years ago. How much royal visibility can the Sussexes retain after leaving official royal duties? The immediate controversy comes from a comment attributed to a friend of the couple in Hello! magazine, discussing the arrangements made when Harry and Meghan stepped back in 2020. That friend said, It doesn't trouble them. They never agreed they wouldn't be half in, half out. That was what was decided and foisted upon them. They're just living their lives, and they can because they're financially independent.

0:50 That prompted a furious response from anonymous figures quoted by Tom Sykes in an opinion column for the Daily Beast's Royalist. One person described as a friend of the late queen and close to the wider family told Sykes, it's unforgivable. A former courtier described as loyal to King Charles said, the idea that you would ask the queen to sign a contract with a member of her family is absolutely disgusting, but it's entirely what we have come to expect from these two. I'm appalled to hear this. Sykes argues that Charles has encouraged the Sussexes' return and bears responsibility for the resulting confusion. A charity's attempt to encourage a loud welcome for Harry and Meghan has become another talking point from their Nottingham visit. According to Hello's royal correspondent, Eleanor Dye, people from one of the charities came outside before the couple arrived and suggested what supporters might shout. The account was discussed on the magazine's A Right Royal podcast, where editorial director Andrea Camano said, Our online royal correspondent, Eleanor Dyer, was there. At the second engagement, she did say to us that people from the charity, not related, obviously, to Harry and Meghan, did come out before they arrived and told the crowds, make sure you cheer very loudly when they come out, and you can say, Meghan, I love you, which I thought was strange. But I wonder if the charity was maybe worried. They did see a big crowd, and you never know how it will respond. So I wonder if they were warming them up before their arrival.

2:19 Hello's royal editor, Emily Nash, said it was unusual in her experience. Yes, that's quite unusual, I must say. I've never really seen that happen, apart from perhaps if you have a group of schoolchildren who are told to stop fighting, for example, or make sure you sing nicely or something like that just before a member of the royal family arrives. So that in itself is interesting. Harry and Meghan are said to dislike being called both non-working royals and former royals. A friend says the descriptions overlook the lives they have built outside the palace, and in Harry's case, the family he still belongs to. Speaking to the Sunday Times, the unnamed friend said, Working members of the royal family is a really lazy phrase. He hates it. She hates it.

3:02 They are not working for the institution, but they are members of the royal family and they work. Their days are built around their family life and their work. She's running a business seven days a week. Things like Nottingham aren't done in the name of the institution or the crown, but Harry is the son of the king. He still is a member of the royal family. He's just not a member of the institution. It's misleading to call them former royals. It has an impact on how they're perceived and the way people talk about them. More palace in just a moment. Kate and Charlotte's trip to the London Underground has been drawn into another story about relations between the Waleses and the Sussexes, with unnamed sources claiming Meghan interpreted it as a personal slight. A source told Rob Shooter's Naughty But Nice newsletter, Meghan believes Catherine knew exactly what she was doing. Meghan sees that as a calculated slap in the face. The message Meghan heard was crystal clear.

3:56 If Catherine can take her daughter on public transport, why can't you? Shooter also quotes someone described as close to Catherine rejecting the idea that the journey was intended to embarrass her sister-in-law. Catherine doesn't spend her days plotting ways to embarrass Meghan. She was enjoying time with Charlotte. Meghan wasn't even part of the conversation. Catherine was being a mother, not sending a message. Meghan needs to understand that not everything revolves around her. William and Kate don't see life as a competition with the Sussexes. The Sussexes are here doing their thing. William and Catherine are doing what's in front of them and focusing on what they care about. However, an unnamed insider quoted by Vanity Fair suggested, It's no coincidence that William and Catherine are doing more together. They want their roles to be very clearly separate from what Harry and Meghan are doing, and the brief from them is to stay focused on their work and causes and not be distracted by anything else. They are making their presence felt and at a time when it matters. William and Kate made quite a visit to Cornwall last week, where a woodland portrait of the princess was taken ahead of her latest early childhood project. Photographer Josh Schinner, whose previous work includes the family's 2023 Christmas card, took the pictures released the following day. She also recorded a message explaining what she hopes the research will achieve. New scientific research shows just how important nature is for our physical and psychological well-being. Nature is such an extraordinary environment for us all, and in this tech-driven digital age, spending time outdoors has never been more important. The Royal Foundation Centre

5:27 for Early Childhood will examine how outdoor environments can support babies in young children's social and emotional development. Williams' Duchy of Cornwall is a founding partner, bringing their work together on the project. Page Six linked the portrait's release to the Sussex's appearance the previous day, although neither supplied anything. report offers evidence that one was arranged in response to the other. Prince William, often described as furious between his seemingly happy photo ops, is said now to be seething, according to a source speaking to New Idea. The source said, William could not believe what he was seeing was the final straw for him. It couldn't have looked more like an official royal duty if it tried. It was as if they totally ignored Charles' letter. William is furious about it.

6:12 He would have little hesitation in doing everything in his power to block them. He's so angry. If he could kick them out of the country right now, he would. The anonymous source claims advisers are discussing how to manage future appearances, saying, The anonymous source claims advisers are discussing how to manage future appearances, saying, There are now intense meetings being held between William and the King's advisors on how to avoid Harry and Meghan gate-crashing other events or clashing with senior royals' events. The source continued, Upstaging any other senior royal by having an event on the same day is very much not the done thing. Royal diary clashes are avoided at all costs, but Harry and Meghan totally ignored that rule with their Nottingham stunt. Harry really should have known better than to upstage his father, but he and Meghan went ahead anyway. Harry's not going to be pushed around by his brother, he's determined to make a go of his life in the UK, and Meghan is on board. If it comes to a standoff, Harry is up for it. Behind the scenes, Charles will be doing all he can to calm William down and let him deal with the Sussexes in his own way. For now, he has to toe the line, but if Harry and Meghan continue to go rogue, William will have no hesitation in confronting Charles about them, sooner rather than later. An insider told Women's Day, William knows as one of the world's wealthiest landowners he's and something the British public are

7:42 not used to, the well-placed source shared. William doesn't like that Harry and Meghan have come back to make money, and clearly have no intention of trying to mend bridges. And a source told Vanity Fair, William is still pretty furious about the whole thing and has no contact with his brother. He won't have Harry's name mentioned in his presence, and while this derailed him and Catherine momentarily, they are back on track and focused on the work they want to do. You'll be seeing a lot more of Kate and William together. At last week's cricket appearance, a woman tugged Williams' shoulder and drew him towards her for a kiss on the cheek. He appeared to decline, shaking his head with a smile before continuing along the crowd. One social media user suggested he said, I don't usually do kisses.

8:25 And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com. If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button up there that says listen uninterrupted and get the show commercial free for just five bucks a month. Also, if there is a podcaster or social media creator in your family, we've released a program that's fit for all creators and with the assistance of AI can help you become a better creator. It's called Linnet. And you can get early access now just by going to linnetmedia.com. That's L-I-N-N-E-T media.com. And it's free through November. So give the podcasting or social creator in your life a heads up. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigued. Good times.