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Harry and Meghan have been accused of ‘exploiting the Queen for Netflix’ and making their top-secret trip for ‘clear the air talks’ with the elderly monarch and Prince Charles at Windsor to please American producers of their upcoming documentary.
A royal experts has claimed that the duke and duchess, who have not been in the UK together since they acrimoniously quit as senior working royals more than two years ago, made the secret visit ‘all for their Netflix documentary’.
Speaking to MailOnline, Meghan’s acid-penned biographer Tom Bower sensationally branded the Sussexes ‘the Royal Family’s worst traducers’ and accused the couple of ‘exploiting an old, unwell woman to boost their credibility and coffers’.
Netflix is expected to send a camera crew to follow Harry and Meghan when they meet the Ukraine team at the Invictus Games for injured military veterans in The Netherlands for their documentary about the Paralympic-style games.
But critics have accused the royal couple of ‘cashing in’ on the Games by allowing Netflix, with whom they have signed a $100million deal, into private meetings. And royal experts believe the VVIP status given to the couple will allow Netflix to portray the couple in a favourable light, as they deal with the fallout from their bombshell interview with Oprah last year.
Talking about Harry and Meghan’s summit with the Queen and Charles, Mr Bower said last night: ‘I have no doubt it was all done for their Netflix documentary. The Queen’s advisers failed to protect her from being exploited by the Royal Family’s worst traducers, while the Sussexes exploited an old, unwell woman to boost their credibility and coffers.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Harry and Meghan for comment.
Other experts suggested that the surprise face-to-face meeting with the Queen, who will be 96 next Thursday and has experienced a series of health problems recently, was an ‘olive branch’ after considerable tension between the Sussexes and royal family.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said the visit would have made the Queen very happy despite the couple’s highly publicised criticism of the royals. In their interview with Oprah, they accused an unnamed senior royal of racism.
Harry and his father have spoken only rarely over the past two years and he heavily criticised Charles in last year’s tell-all Oprah interview in California last year for failing to support him and allegedly cutting the duke off financially.
The claims were disputed by supporters of Charles, who say he has been left desolate by his younger son’s rejection. He is also said to be deeply concerned about Harry’s memoirs, due to be published later this year, which he fears will be further used to settle scores.
Harry and Meghan pictured at the Global Citizen Live event in, New York, USA, September 25, 2021
Speaking to MailOnline, Meghan’s acid-penned biographer Tom Bower branded the Sussexes ‘the Royal Family’s worst traducers’ and accused the couple of ‘exploiting an old, unwell woman to boost their credibility and coffers’
The Queen pictured on a visit to Porton Down science park near Salisbury, October 15, 2020
Meghan last saw the Queen at an awkward Commonwealth Day service on March 8, 2020 (pictured) but has claimed since to regularly speak to her on the phone and over video calls
The Queen, Harry and Meghan pictured on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday July 10, 2018
Hilariously, given their efforts to keep the visit secret, Harry and Meghan, 40, were spotted walking over to Windsor Castle early yesterday (Thursday) morning by a coach of excited churchgoers arriving for the Royal Maundy service
Miss Seward told The Sun newspaper: ‘It is a wonderful opportunity to clear the air and offer an olive branch. After everything that has gone on it must have taken a lot for Harry and Meghan to go to Windsor. Also Maundy Thursday is a very special day for the Queen as it is about forgiveness. She is not one to hold grudges and I think she would have happily welcomed them with open arms.’
The Sun reported a busload of tourists had seen the couple visiting Windsor Castle, with one telling the paper they ‘couldn’t believe it when I saw who it was. We waved and they waved back. They looked happy and relaxed and waved to everyone on the bus’.
Meghan last saw the Queen at an awkward Commonwealth Day service on March 8, 2020 but has claimed since to regularly speak to her on the phone and over video calls.
Harry has not seen his grandmother in person since Prince Philip’s funeral last April when he flew over briefly from their new home in the US. And the Queen has not met their baby daughter Lilibet. But their contact would have been limited because of Covid restrictions.
The duke has since launched a High Court legal action against the Home Office claiming it is too dangerous to bring his family to the UK after being stripped of his official Metropolitan Police protection.
The couple are understood to have left Windsor yesterday afternoon and are now more than likely in the Netherlands to attend the prince’s Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style event he set up for wounded service personnel, which opens tomorrow in The Hague.
It is not believed that Harry and Meghan met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their 24 hours on British soil. William and Harry’s relationship has been at rock bottom since Harry pressed the nuclear button on his royal life.
Harry is suing the Home Office after he was stripped on his round the clock taxpayer-funded police protection after quitting the UK.
He has since told the High Court that he is willing to pay for it himself when in the UK as he does not believe he and his family are safe in this country as his own privately-funded civilian team of US bodyguards cannot carry arms and will, he argues, not be kept updated of the relevant intelligence.
Last night a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that they had been to Windsor to see the Queen.
It comes after sources close to the couple revealed that Harry and Meghan will be given the ‘VVIP’ status in the Netherlands, affording them top-level local protection – which will be seen as an attempt to justify their non-attendance at Prince Philip’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey last month over security concerns.
‘The Netflix film crew will most certainly favourably capture Harry and Meghan,’ said Talk Radio royal commentator Charles Rae.
‘It will look as if they are still members of the royal family when they are private citizens. That will be the whole aim to show people they are still considered very important people. It will no doubt make great play of the ‘VVIP’ status they have been given by the Dutch authorities.’
The film crew are expected to travel in the same armed police protected motorcade that will take Harry and Meghan to the Zuiderpark stadium where the opening ceremony takes place on Saturday.
They will also film the emotional moment Harry and Meghan meet members of the Ukrainian squad whose presence is tinged with heartache over the loss of four of their former colleagues who died defending their country.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (pictured in 2018) are off to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands which start on Saturday
The Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague, which is hosting the Invictus Games event this year
Security at the Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague is being stepped up, two days before the start of the Games
Police, military personnel and security guards patrol the Zuiderpark in The Hague in the Netherlands
Security at the Sportcampus Zuiderpark ahead of the Invictus Games which begins with the opening ceremony on Saturday
Police, military personnel and security guards patrol the Zuiderpark in The Hague in the Netherlands
The trip marks a return to the spotlight for Meghan whose previous high profile appearances have been the Oprah Winfrey interview and a much panned appearance on the Ellen DeGenres show.
The Netflix doc series being filmed over the course of a week while the games are staged is called ‘Heart of Darkness.’
It is the first co-production with the couple’s Archewell Productions and is being made by the Oscar-winning team of director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara.
They were responsible for the widely acclaimed documentary ‘White Helmets’ about first responders during the Syrian conflict.
According to Archwell, the docu-series will ‘showcase powerful stories of resilience and hope from competitors on their journey to Invictus Games’.
The meeting between the royal couple and the Ukrainian team is expected to be one of the most emotional moments of the week-long games attended by competitors from 20 nations.
Their arrival at Schiphol Airport was tinged with heartache after four members of the squad died defending their country.
Sergey Smilin was killed in service on March 18 while former Invictus competitors Vladimir Motelchuk and Dmytro Oliynyk lost their lives in rocket attacks on March 29, and former trialist Serhii Karajvan died in combat on March 13.
‘They were all extremely active in the international Invictus community on the We Are Invictus platform, competing in events over the past year including the virtual London Marathon, and online Rowing championships,’ a spokesperson for Invictus said.
Meghan is expected to arrive with her husband in The Netherlands on Friday and she is expected to stay for four days.
A minute’s silence will be held for those who have died in the Ukraine conflict at the start of the opening ceremony at the Zuiderpark in The Hague on Saturday night.
It will be Meghan’s first overseas trip since quitting the royal family in 2020 and moving to California.
The event has been postponed twice due to the pandemic and it was at the 2017 games in Toronto that the royal couple were seen together for the first time. Months later they announced their engagement.
It is understood Harry and Meghan will not get an audience with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima during their stay and will have to instead spend the night at a hotel in The Hague.
Traditionally, the Dutch royal family hosts stays of foreign royals, but a spokesperson has confirmed no such olive branch will be extended to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
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