Security

Another royalist has written another half-fictional book about the Windsor clan. This time it’s Robert Jobson, and his latest book is The Windsor Legacy. A legacy of abuse, neglect, dishonor, disrespect and trailer-trash antics, if you ask me. The Mail has already started publishing excerpts from the book, and I just thought we should get into it. Going strictly by the first excerpts, Jobson has set it up the bulk of all of the stories are about how the Sussexes are damned if they do, damned if they don’t, and they absolutely never, ever get it right, obviously. Jobson gets most of his leaks, briefings and exclusives from King Charles’s camp – he’s a Charles/Camilla loyalist, if anything. So just understand that this is Charles’s narrative on certain subjects:

Prince Harry called QEII in late 2020: She may have suspected what he wanted to discuss. Before Harry had left Britain in 2020, the Queen and Prince Charles had arranged to cover security costs for him and his son Archie for a whole year. In addition, Harry’s father had offered to assist with household bills and living expenses while the Sussexes settled into their new lives – first in Canada and then in California. But was that enough? Harry seemed to be finding the shift from being a working royal rather harder than he’d expected. Sure enough, he called his grandmother back the following day – though this time not during the sacred hour. And this time she took his call. After hanging up, she sighed and said in front of her staff: ‘More money.’

QEII hated how much money Meghan spent on clothes: One matter that did anger her, though, was Meghan’s taste for expensive designer clothes. She’d looked stunning when, nine months after the royal wedding, she appeared in a custom-made Christian Dior gown during a reception in February 2019 at the British ambassador’s residence in Rabat, Morocco. However, the cost of her wardrobe for the Sussexes’ official tour of Morocco was causing comment back home. Certainly, the estimated £60,000 price tag for the Dior dress drew the Queen’s ire when she read about it in the press. She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice.

QEII thought the Sussexit was awful! Privately, Queen Elizabeth described Harry’s behaviour as ‘quite mad’. She made it clear to those close to her that she felt let down by the Sussexes’ departure, which she saw as short-sighted and a missed opportunity. The Queen had warmly welcomed Meghan, viewing her dual heritage, beauty and communication skills as assets to the family. When everything fell apart, she publicly wished the couple well. As time went on, however, she tired of all their dramatics, and ordered that Harry’s phone calls be redirected to his father.

Harry telling Oprah that his father & brother are trapped: William felt totally betrayed. He insisted to friends there was no way he felt trapped, and licensed them to talk to the media. He also famously declared: ‘We are very much not a racist family.’ The two brothers spoke on the phone – and days later, CBS TV host Gayle King revealed that their conversation was ‘not productive’. The leak felt like yet another betrayal.

QEII sent for Philip’s companion: Just over a week after the Oprah interview, Prince Philip was released from hospital. He was lethargic, sluggish and didn’t want to leave his room, which worried the Queen. She sent for his close companion Penny, the Countess Mountbatten, hoping her presence would help him regain his zest for life – and he briefly rallied.

The Sussexes naming their daughter after QEII: A Palace source has a different version of events, which is that the Queen first learned of Lilibet’s name from the morning press, and was so incensed at the affront that she threw the paper to the floor, startling her staff. Later, during one of the Sussexes’ final UK visits before her death, they skipped a planned tea – that daily ritual so precious to the Queen. What’s more, they skipped it without giving her notice. She had requested a special cake. By 5.15 p.m., with no word, she told staff to clear everything away.

QEII’s thoughts on William: Although she loved William and saw much to admire, she told insiders that she feared he might become a ‘celebrity monarch’ rather than a dedicated one. His rigidity, according to a royal source, occasionally frustrated her. A case in point was when the Queen asked him to stand in for her at the official opening of Thames Hospice’s new 29-bed facility by Bray Lake, Berkshire, near Windsor. She had a particular connection with it through a retiring staff member who had looked after the budgerigars at the Royal Aviary, and she didn’t want to let anyone down. But on the day of the ceremony, July 15, 2022, she was feeling particularly frail. William’s schedule might well have accommodated this last-minute duty, but he cried off, citing fatherly duties. This left his grandmother not only disappointed but irritated. She is said to have scoffed: ‘Isn’t that what nannies and policemen are for?’

Charles’s call to Harry last year: The King, who’d broken the news of his cancer to Harry in a phone call, had started treatment straight away. He was undergoing chemotherapy and felt a strong need for peace and quiet. The last thing he needed was any drama – yet, without an invitation, Harry took it upon himself to fly over to see his father. The King had planned to spend the weekend at Sandringham in Norfolk, so he was irritated at being forced to wait in London until his son arrived. Their meeting was brief, around 30 minutes. Wary of letting Harry prolong it, Charles had pre-arranged for the meeting to be interrupted with a warning that it was time for a medical procedure. His son left soon afterwards. In fact, there was no procedure scheduled, and never had been. Instead, the King flew straight to Sandringham on a helicopter that had been standing by for his delayed journey.

[From The Daily Mail]

“The Queen and Prince Charles had arranged to cover security costs for him and his son Archie for a whole year…” Carefully worded AND false. While the original deal was for protection for the Sussexes (Meghan included) for a year, that was withdrawn in March 2020. When Harry called his father and grandmother in 2020, he was trying to get answers about his security, not money. But it’s interesting that even in this horrific, false, pro-Windsor account, they’re making sure that no one would believe that they ever agreed to protect the only woman of color to marry into the family.

What else? More horses-t about Lili’s name and QEII throwing a tantrum, which I still don’t believe. I think the courtiers and Charles and William were the ones throwing tantrums, and QEII was pretty much fine with the name. The part about Charles being pissed at Harry for wanting to see him after a cancer diagnosis is shocking, but not for the reasons Jobson believes. The thing about William refusing to step in for his dying grandmother is wild though – his commitment to being lazy as hell extended that far, where he turned down his frail, dying grandmother when she asked him to work a few hours. Bonkers. These people are horrible.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.