It has been another eventful week for The Firm. The Queen was taken to the hospital after two weeks of busy public engagements, although experts claim nothing will stop Her Majesty from carrying on with her duties. Similarly, Kate Middleton hit the ground running, attending both Prince William’s career defining Earthshot Awards and delivering the keynote address at an event for drug and alcohol dependency charity The Forward Trust. Across the Atlantic, Meghan set tongues wagging after lobbying two high ranking Democrats in Washington with a political letter sent on her and Harry’s official royal stationary. Here’s what you need to know…
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HER MAJESTY’S TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL: It was revealed on Thursday evening that the Queen had spent a night in hospital for testing just hours after she canceled an official trip to Northern Ireland to mark the 100th anniversary of the partition of the island. Royal doctors ordered Her Majesty, 95, to rest and advised her to miss a trip to the province, sparking speculation about the reason for the eleventh-hour change of plans.
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It is understood the trip to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Wednesday afternoon was expected to be for some ‘preliminary investigations’, and that the overnight stay was for practical reasons. For these reasons, as well as in order to protect the Queen’s medical privacy, the visit was not announced by Buckingham Palace at the time.
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The Palace said that the monarch was discharged Thursday morning and returned to Windsor Castle at lunchtime, where she was expected to recuperate for the rest of the week. She was not thought to have had an overnight hospital stay since March 2013, when she was treated for a stomach bug.
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IS HER MAJESTY OVEREXERTING HERSELF? The Queen’s trip to the hospital came after a packed two weeks of public appearances. Since she returned to Windsor from her summer break at Balmoral, the Queen has carried out 15 engagements, listed in the Court Circular, including her audiences, plus an additional trip to Ascot.
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Her Majesty welcomed troops at Windsor on her return to her Berkshire home (pictured) the day before meeting her son Prince Edward to launch the Commonwealth Games baton relay at Buckingham Palace. Then on the 10th of October, Her Majesty was seen again at Windsor Castle’s Royal Lodge worshipping in public for the first time since the pandemic began. Two days later, she returned to London for a service of thanksgiving to mark the centenary of the Royal British Legion at Westminster Abbey, and on October 14th, she traveled to Cardiff for the opening of Welsh Parliament. She went on to attend Ascot on October 16th and yesterday had a video call with the Governor-General of New Zealand before welcoming business leaders, presidential envoys and tech entrepreneurs to Windsor Castle for a lavish reception following a Government investment summit.
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According to royal biographer Angela Levin, Prince Philip, who died in April aged 99, would have exercised a ‘bit of control’ and told his wife: ‘Look, stop it, don’t go to so many engagements and relax a bit.’ She told how the Queen was facing a ‘fight between her head and her body’ and there was a religious aspect after she vowed at her Coronation in 1953 that God would help her fulfill her role as the head of state until she died. Royal expert and Daily Mail columnist Robert Hardman also weighed in on the Queen’s busy schedule. ‘Are we asking too much of our Queen?’ he posed in a new column. ‘This seems a ludicrous schedule for any 95-year-old,’ he said. ‘However, here comes the “but”: The Queen would not have it any other way.’
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Royal commentator Dickie Arbiter also weighed in, noting that the Queen will not step down, despite concerns over her health. In fact, the former press secretary to the Queen said on Good Morning Britain on Thursday that anyone asking the monarch to retire was ‘patronizing and fighting fire’. Instead, Dickie, 81, suggested the Queen would ask officials to ‘pace’ her engagements as she continues her duties as sovereign.
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WILLIAM AND KATE’S DEFINING MOMENT: Prince William and Kate Middleton wowed at this week’s Earthshot Awards – organized by the Prince himself – with body language experts calling the appearance a ‘masterclass in regal behavior’. The star-studded event celebrated the start of a decade-long global environmental competition awarding £1 million ($1.3M) to five winners for an idea to protect the planet.
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No stars flew into London for the ceremony and guests were asked by organizers to ‘consider the environment when choosing their outfit’. Most guests followed William and Kate by re-using an outfit they had previously worn. William wore the same bottle green jacket at Centrepoint’s 50th Anniversary two years ago, while Kate wore an Alexander McQueen dress she first wore ten years ago in 2011, at a Bafta reception in Los Angeles. Pictured: Kate chats with actress Emma Thompson backstage.
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Speaking exclusively to the Mail, body language expert Judi James revealed how the couple showed they are approachable, while they also seemed ‘in awe’ of David Attenborough as they rubbed shoulders with A-listers. The couple showed ‘modesty’ while avoiding ‘showboating’ and celebrity-style ‘PDAs’ during the green carpet, Judi explained – a direct contrast to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s ‘rock star-like’ appearances at recent events’.
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Comparisons to Prince William’s little brother, however, did not end there. Those more critical of the future king noted that he and Kate seemed to be following in the footsteps of Harry and Meghan by releasing photographs in black and white – and choosing to share their rare moments of public affection. Among the images, which were shared to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s social media account, include the unguarded moment Kate put a loving hand on William’s lower back (pictured).
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Meghan, 40, and Harry, 37, have chosen black and white pictures on a number of important occasions, including their official engagement shoot and their first Christmas card. Photographer Glenn Gratton explained that Meghan is ‘image conscious’ and would have carefully thought through which photos to release of her son to make the best impression. He added black and white is ‘in vogue’ and is a way for the royal mother to distance her photos from the high contrast, filtered photos that flood social media feeds. ‘Copy-Kate’ seems to appreciate the sentiment.
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A PROUD PRINCE: In a rare and touching public statement, Charles took to Instagram to praise his eldest son and his work on the bold environmental project. ‘I am very proud of my son, William, for his growing commitment to the environment and the bold ambition of the Earthshot Prize,’ he said. ‘As a world, we need to come together to inspire, reimagine and build the sustainable future we so desperately need. Over the coming decade, with future generations in mind, the Earthshot Prize, and its inspirational nominees, will help us find the innovative solutions.’
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Charles also revealed how his grandson Prince George is already learning about climate change. The Prince of Wales, 72, appeared in the new Sky Kids Original documentary Cop26: In Your Hands, and explained his eldest grandson, eight, has been learning global warming is causing ‘the big storms, and floods, the droughts, fires and food shortages’ around the world.
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During the clip (pictured), Charles states: ‘When I was his age, people had no idea about the damage they were doing, but by the time I was a teenager I started to see that if we didn’t stop polluting our planet, we would face a very dangerous future indeed.’
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Earlier this week The Duke of Cambridge also noted that his son Prince George becomes ‘confused and annoyed’ when trash reappears after he’s picked up litter. The eight-year-old royal has been collecting garbage with his school, Thomas’s Battersea, in south west London.
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KATE’S HEART-TO-HEART: One big event wasn’t enough for mother-of-three Kate Middleton this week. The Duchess of Cambridge shone in a red ensemble as she delivered the keynote address at an event for drug and alcohol dependency charity the Forward Trust. Kate, who is patron of the charity, spoke movingly about how ‘anyone’ can become an addict and called for greater understanding of those battling addiction.
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‘Addiction is not a choice. No one chooses to become an addict. But it can happen to any one of us. None of us are immune,’ Kate said, launching the Forward Trust ‘Taking Action on Addiction’ campaign. ‘Yet it’s all too rarely discussed as a serious mental health condition. And seldom do we take the time to uncover and fully understand its fundamental root causes.’ She continued: As a society, we need to start from a position of compassion and empathy. Where we nurture those around us, understand their journey, and what has come before them… That is why I am so passionate about the work of The Forward Trust, an organization I am so proud to be patron of. This is the work that you, and many other charities, provide day in, day out. And it is needed now, more than ever.’
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Kate, who looked radiant in a custom red Christopher Kane skirt and a Ralph Lauren sweater, also spoke to UK TV presenter Ant McPartlin about his addiction battle. McPartlin struggled with a two-year addiction to super-strength painkillers following a knee operation in 2015. He entered rehab in 2018 after crashing his car while at more than twice the alcohol limit. ‘By the time I asked for help, it was bad,’ the TV presenter admitted as the Duchess listened on. ‘But as soon as you open up to people, problems have got to disappear,’ he said. ‘It gets better and help is there.’
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Later, Ant and his co-presenter Dec Donnelly introduced the Duchess ahead of her keynote speech at the event as ‘Her Majesty’ (a term reserved for the Monarch) instead of Her Royal Highness. The audience erupted with laughter, with the TV host laughingly adding: ‘I’ve just promoted you there, rather prematurely.’ As the audience continued to chuckle, Ant, standing beside him at the podium, joked: ‘That must happen all the time.’
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HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE LOBBYIST: On the other side of the Atlantic, Meghan Markle made her most overtly political move yet, sending an open letter to two senior US political figures on proposed parental and sick leave legislation. The 1,030-word letter – given to supportive media to share – asked the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and the Majority Leader in the US Senate Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, to consider her plea ‘on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry’.
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Written on the Sussexes new post-royal letterhead, which prominently uses their titles but not their official cyphers, Meghan, 40, said the pandemic has exposed ‘long-existing fault lines in our communities’ and says ‘millions of women’ have been forced to drop out of the workforce to look after their children as a result of schools and childcare providers being closed. In an astonishing personal admission, she suggested her family was impoverished when she was growing up even though her father was an Emmy award-winning lighting director and she was educated at a private school. She says: ‘I grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler – it may have cost less back then (to be honest, I can’t remember) – but what I do remember was the feeling: I knew how hard my parents worked to afford this because even at five bucks, eating out was something special, and I felt lucky.’
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She also detailed how she had to work at the local frozen yogurt shop from the age of 13 just to make ends meet and, when she was older, to fill up her car. ‘I waited tables, babysat, and piecemealed jobs together to cover odds and ends,’ Meghan writes. ‘I worked all my life and saved when and where I could – but even that was a luxury – because usually it was about making ends meet and having enough to pay my rent and put gas in my car.’ Pictured: Meghan on her 11th birthday with mum Doria in 1992, seen in pictures kept by her uncle Joseph Johnson.
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Meghan (pictured with her mother, left) also claimed that she was writing to the Congress members not as an ‘elected official… [nor] a politician’ but as an ‘engaged citizen and a parent… and as a mom’. However, in a more political vein, she notes that many of the US’s economic systems are ‘past their expiration date’ and ‘too many Americans are forced to shortchange themselves when it comes to what matters to them’. She concluded: ”I know how politically charged things can – and have – become. But this isn’t about right or left, it’s about right or wrong.’
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SERIOUS POLITICAL AMBITIONS? Republicans were quick to criticize the former actress, saying she should ‘stick to acting’ and encouraging the royal family to strip her of her title. ‘Ms. Markle’s latest interference in U.S. politics reignites the question in my mind as to why the Royal Family does not simply strip her and Harry officially of their titles, particularly since she insists on sending this under the pretense of being the Duchess of Sussex,’ Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., told DailyMail.com.
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Smith continued: ‘While her attempts at appealing to working class families by recalling her days of eating at Sizzler were laughable, her comments make crystal clear that the passage of this massive tax-and-spend bill is aimed more at helping global elites get huge tax breaks than helping the working families she claims to have dined with.’
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The letter also sparked rumors that Markle was using the ‘tactics of an aspiring politician’ to lobby two senior Washington figures on Joe Biden’s proposed parental and sick leave legislation. ‘Meghan Markle is incredibly out of touch with the American people and should stick to acting instead of trying to play politics,’ Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., told DailyMail.com. ‘The last thing we need right now is wealthy celebrities pushing their liberal agendas on the American people.’
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Other critics have pointed out that many families can’t afford to eat out at all and that Meghan attended a prestigious private nursery and kindergarten called Little Red Schoolhouse which starts at $18,800 a year for kindergarten and $22,600 a year for sixth-grade, paid for by her father Thomas, who she no longer speaks to.
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Angela Levin, journalist and biographer of Prince Harry, told MailOnline that while the duchess is an American citizen, the letter from ‘the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ signed ‘on behalf of my family, Archie and Lili and Harry’, amounts to using her British title and marriage to the sixth in line to the throne to interfere in US politics – noting that Meghan doesn’t even seem ‘aware that she is talking to politicians in a republic that won its independence from the crown in 1776’. She continued: ‘The truth is that the bill about parental leave is on its way to being confirmed, and could be hijacked by Meghan’s belief it was largely due to her. In addition if she was writing a professional letter what on earth is she getting all cozy and intimate by stating the letter is also ‘on behalf of Archie and Lili – notice she is not calling her Lilibet, the Queen’s nickname – and Harry. Poor old Harry has come last’.
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The letter is not the first time the Sussexes have weighed in on American politics. In remarks made on the election at the end of September, as some states had begun their early voting, Prince Harry urged people to ‘reject hate speech’ while Meghan called November 3 the ‘most important election of our lifetime.’
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