Royal expert says Meghan Markle made One Young World speech ‘all about her’

Meghan Markle was last night accused of making a speech at the One Young World summit in Manchester that just focused on ‘me, me, me’ as she made at least 54 references to herself during a seven-minute talk to young people about gender equality.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was making her first address in Britain since Megxit more than two years ago, as she formally opened the summit at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, as her smiling husband watched on.

It had been touted as a speech about gender equality but Meghan – who along with Harry had been confronted with booing when they arrived – made only one passing anecdote about a woman during the speech to about 2,000 people.

Instead, she gushed about Prince Harry and the ‘life-changing’ impact of becoming a mother to Archie and told the event it was ‘very nice to be back in the UK’.

Meghan seemingly tried to relate with the youth attendees, told them about when she first became involved in the organisation: ‘In many ways I was probably like a lot like you, I was young, ambitious.’

She questioned how she became successful, referring to herself as ‘the girl from Suits’ who was eventually ‘invited to pull up a seat at the table’ with powerful leaders, prime minsters, humanitarians and activists.

The Duchess spoke about how her life had ‘changed dramatically by 2019’ when she last appeared at a One Young World event and that her world view had ‘expanded exponentially’ after seeing ‘the global community through the eyes of my child’.

Meghan also told the audience, made up of young delegates from more than 190 countries, that they are ‘the future, but also the present, driving the positive and necessary change needed across the globe.’ 

Despite her efforts to deliver and sincere and inspiring speech, critics allege the duchess ‘made no sense’ and ‘related everything to herself.’ Royal experts say the speech had a ‘severe lack of content’ and ‘didn’t tell the audience anything practical in terms of advice to fulfil their potential.’

Sceptics note it is also unlikely the crowd of young people were able to ‘understand a word of what she was talking about.’

Meghan referenced herself 54 times in the seven-minute speech, a body language analyst revealed on Twitter. 

Despite having been selected to discuss gender equality, Meghan only made one brief anecdote about a woman other than herself. The Duchess of Sussex said that the first year she joined One Young World in Dublin, she worked with a young woman from Eritrea.

‘She had escaped her home country, fleeing with bullets fired above her head. I still remember it so well,’ she said. ‘I remember my shock, and I also remember her courage, my recognition of how much continues to go on each day with so many turning a blind eye. And yet despite all odds, she like so many still persevered.’

Royal experts criticised Meghan after the speech for delivering an address that ‘lacked content’ and was riddled with confusing and insincere commentary.

‘I can’t visualise or comprehend how the 2,000 young people understood a word of what she was talking about,’ Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, told The Sun.

‘It made no sense. It was all about her and related everything to herself.

‘I don’t think she knew what she was talking about. It was just ‘me, me, me’ and praising herself.’

Royal author Phil Dampier accused the duchess of ‘wanting to sound sincere’ as she took the stage all-smiles and featuring an extremely friendly attitude. 

But despite her efforts, Mr Dampier claims ‘there was a severe lack of content in what she was saying.’

‘She was using her acting skills when she made the comment about being back in the UK,’ he told Mail Online. ‘She clearly launched a PR offensive having received hostility from the British press.

‘If she met most members of the public in the UK she wouldn’t get good reception, but on stage with an audience that tends to be on her side – or is inclined to support her – she could get away saying very little and being applauded for it.’

Robert Jobson, author of ‘William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch’ echoed the sentiment, telling Mail Online: ‘There is no doubt that Meghan is a first class orator. She speaks with passion and engages her audience. I’m sure she is thrilled to have her voice back!

‘I’m sure too that after all the attacks she has made against the Queen and the British royal family Her Majesty leads, that her comment saying that it is good to be back in the UK should be taken with a pinch of salt.’

Mr Jobson said the speech made him feel as if Meghan has a ‘political agenda long term’ and is trying to prepare for a political role ‘maybe in Congress or the Senate.’

‘But to do that I think she must ditch the royal ‘duchess’ title that is linked to a system and a family she appears to despise,’ he added. ‘If she did that it might placate some people in the UK who feel both Harry and Meghan should be stripped of their royal title.’

‘But as they use their links with royalty to promote themselves I doubt she and her princely born husband will ever do that.’

Mr Dampier noted that Harry looked ‘ill at ease and embarrassed’ when Meghan referred to him in the address. He also pointed out how the audience applauded Meghan’s ‘fairly dull’ remarks about being a wife and mother, even though they really didn’t apply to the young audience.

‘She was clearly among friends and the young audience was clearly on her side. They were applauding fairly dull remarks that she was a wife and mother,’ he said, adding: ‘But in terms of what she was actually saying, I haven’t a clue.

‘The speech was really about her. She was using it as a platform to talk about herself and her past involvement with the organisation but it didn’t tell the audience anything practical in terms of advice to fulfil their potential.’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also ran a gauntlet of boos as they arrived at the first public engagement of their pseudo-royal tour.

Harry and Meghan were met by demonstrators as they pulled up at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, despite using a decoy car and entering through a back door.

In the building, where Meghan would later give a keynote address at the One Young World summit for youth leaders, the welcome was warm.

But minutes earlier, as the couple climbed out of their car, many in a 100-strong crowd booed from behind a barrier just yards away, with onlookers saying it was so loud ‘there was no doubt they would have heard’. One protester was carrying a sign that read: ‘FO Harry and Me-Gain Fake Royals.’

A woman who gave her name as Janet, from Manchester, accused Meghan of being a ‘liar and a hypocrite’ and of launching an ‘attack’ on the Royal Family. 

‘She’s a fake humanitarian and a fake feminist,’ she said. ‘She’s a social climber… she thought she could be a celebrity in the Royal Family and she’s the most toxic, divisive woman I’ve ever heard of in my life.’

The woman, who was wearing a T-shirt bearing a skeletal hand clutching money and a quote from the duchess, said: ‘The Queen has been on the throne for 70 years and she’s had to put up with all this trouble. Meghan has used every card she can – racism, mental health, feminism. She’s not a feminist, she’s just a hypocrite.’

Another protester, called Anna, said: ‘I thought Meghan was going to be a breath of fresh air. But she’s had an ulterior motive from the start.

‘I’ve come here today primarily to make a point. She needs to live more honestly and she should have shown more respect as a member of the Royal Family.’

But Patricia Downs, 50, who travelled to Manchester from London because she’s a fan of the couple, said: ‘Meghan’s done nothing wrong. The only thing she did wrong – as a bi-racial woman – was marry a member of the Royal Family.

‘The media and the Royal Family have got an agenda against her.’

The former Suits star, who was dressed in a vivid red high-necked sleek trouser suit, smiled broadly and held hands with the Duke of Sussex as the couple made their way through the auditorium to huge cheers, as delegates held up their phones to film them.

She said she was ‘thrilled’ that Harry could join her this year at the One Young World summit as the organisation was ‘an integral’ part of her life before she met him, and that it was now a ‘privilege’ to meet again with him by her side and ‘on UK soil’.  

She spoke of how she joined the One Young World organisation as a counsellor in 2014, describing her then-self as ‘young, ambitious and advocating for things I deeply and profoundly believed in’.

But the duchess said she was filled with self-doubt, branding herself ‘the girl from Suits’, adding: ‘I was surrounded by world leaders, humanitarians, prime ministers and activists that I had such a deep and longstanding respect and admiration for… and I was asked to pull up a seat at the table.’

Meghan spoke about how her life had ‘changed dramatically by 2019’ and that her world view had ‘expanded exponentially’ after seeing ‘the global community through the eyes of my child.’

‘And I would ask what is this world that he would come to adopt and what can we do, what can I do, to make it better?’ she said.

Her speech came just days after her controversial interview with The Cut magazine, in which she said it takes ‘a lot of effort’ to forgive and hinted that she can ‘say anything’, in what was seen by some as a thinly-veiled threat to the Royal Family. 

She also said that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’ before they stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.

The couple had travelled by train from London some hours earlier before arriving to the venue in a 4×4 BMW from the nearby Kimpton hotel – and they made a swift exit, leaving almost immediately after Meghan’s speech and a quick round of selfies.

She and Harry left the stage to applause and there were also a smattering of cheers, rather than boos this time, as they got into their car to catch the train back to London Euston.

They were seen arriving back at the London station later that evening. It is believed they returned to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

The couple will be in Germany on Tuesday for the launch of the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023, the Paralympic-style event for servicemen and women founded by the prince.

They will meet officials and potential competitors ahead of selection later this year, as well as athletes’ friends and family. 

On Thursday the couple will attend the WellChild Awards, which celebrate the bravery of young people from across the UK who have coped with a serious illness or disability. 

Harry is a long-term patron of the charity and kept the role after quitting royal duties.

Notably, media access to the awards, normally open to all, has been severely curtailed this year without any explanation. 

The structure of the Sussexes’ trip and nature of the engagements have the appearance of a typical royal tour.

One insider said archly that it was ‘ironic given they profess to hate everything about the institution and royal life’.  

SARAH VINE: It’s hard to sound truly modest when you’re just talking about yourself, Meghan

There was a time when the appointment of a new Prime Minister and the bowing out of the Home Secretary would have been no match for the stellar pulling-power of the Duchess of Sussex. But that was when she just seemed like a rather glamorous addition to a slightly fusty Royal Family: A ray of LA sunshine to brighten our – and Prince Harry’s – days.

Since then, a few truths have transpired – not all of them perhaps as she might have hoped. And the great British public – away from whom it seems the Duchess cannot get far enough – have, not entirely unreasonably, become somewhat more circumspect about her motives and intentions.

And so, what even six months ago might have been a whirlwind of flashbulbs and flowers began quietly, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent the night in Frogmore Cottage, just a short walk from Harry’s brother and his family, newly installed on the Queen’s Windsor Estate.

Despite their proximity, they rather sadly spent the evening alone, before yesterday quietly boarding the 12.20pm Avanti West Coast Service to Manchester Piccadilly, where Meghan was due to deliver a speech on gender equality at the One Young World summit, an event which brings together young leaders from more than 190 countries.

By 6pm, barely a peep or a paparazzo shot appeared to have escaped the cordon of security surrounding them – paid for by the Prince himself, who is still in litigation with the Home Office about his right to police protection when on UK soil.

Could it be that, following a disastrous week in which the Duchess’s various utterances had earned her less-than-rave reviews, they had finally read the room and decided to keep thing rather more low key?

As the couple were pictured greeting the organisers on stage – Meghan resplendent in red – the online feed from the venue remained silent, a few hundred viewers waiting patiently for the main event.

Then, suddenly, we were live. A procession of young people took to the stage – from Moldova to Montenegro, waving flags to the strains of Move On Up.

Harry and Meghan sat in the front row, smiling and clapping as the various representatives processed and the crowd cheered. Harry looked characteristically furious. Meghan had her best ‘interested’ smile on as the music segued into Aretha Franklin’s Respect. The American flagbearer waved encouragingly in her direction. Everyone stood up and did a bit of slightly awkward dad-dancing.

First up, a brief but heartfelt speech from the chair of the organisation, former Irish President Mary Robinson, quoting Nelson Mandela. Oh dear, had she not been briefed on the Duchess’s little recent faux pas – when Meghan claimed that her marriage to Prince Harry sparked scenes of joy in South Africa comparable to those on show when Mandela was released from prison? Next, Sir Bob Geldof himself. A big cheer when he mentioned Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham, as well as the obligatory f-bomb and a dig at Boris Johnson.

And then it was Meghan’s turn. Poised, smiling, she took to the podium to tell the audience all about… Meghan. About how she has been with the organisation since 2014, about how humbled (tick), in awe (tick), nervous (tick) she felt about being in such incredible company.

Why, she even saved her little paper place-card that had her name on it, such was her disbelief. She was so nervous, doubted herself so much. Was she even good enough to be there (shy giggle, conspiratorial smile)?

As for gender equality, she didn’t mention it once. But no matter. She was grateful, she was humble, her pantsuit was awesome. It ended with a short fanfare, followed by Harry hastily ushering her toward the exit, pausing briefly for a few selfies.

The audience, of course, loved her. And she was undoubtedly impressive: Beautifully turned out, wonderfully poised. But it’s hard to come across as genuinely self-deprecating, genuinely modest – when all you’re really doing is talking about yourself. Again. 

‘She didn’t say anything!’: Royal experts say Meghan Markle’s seven-minute One Young World speech ‘lacked content’ and her claim that it is ‘nice’ to be back in the UK should be ‘taken with a pinch of salt’ after recent jibes at Royal Family 

Royal experts are criticising Meghan Markle’s speech at the Young One World summit for ‘lacking content’ and being riddled with insincere remarks including how it was ‘very nice to be back in the UK.’

Meghan, 41, delivered a keynote speech at the event in Manchester on Monday, telling young leaders ‘you are the future… you are the present’.

Former actress Meghan told the 2,000 delegates how her life had changed when she last joined the summit in London in 2019 – singling out her role as a wife and a mother – but making no mention of becoming a senior royal the year before.

However, royal experts argue Meghan’s address featured a ‘severe lack of content’ and ‘didn’t tell the audience anything practical in terms of advice to fulfil their potential.’

On the contrary, the appearance emphasised how Meghan is a ‘first class orator’ despite the fact that her remarks of gratitude for the UK ‘should be taken with a pinch of salt.’

The speech comes amid tensions between the Sussexes and the Royal Family that were furthered last week after an interview which saw Meghan suggest she and Prince Harry were forced to move across the Atlantic because ‘by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’. 

Meghan on Monday night made her first in-person address in Britain since quitting as a working royal amid the Megxit crisis more than two years ago.

In her PR-friendly speech, Meghan said ‘it is very nice to be back in the UK’ and gushed about Harry, 37, and the ‘life-changing’ impact of becoming a mother to Archie, now 3.

One Young World co-founder David Jones hailed Meghan as an ‘incredibly powerful voice for gender equality,’ but royal experts remain sceptical of her public performance. 

Royal author Phil Dampier accused the duchess of ‘wanting to sound sincere’ as she took the stage all-smiles and featuring an extremely friendly attitude. 

But despite her efforts, Mr Dampier claims ‘there was a severe lack of content in what she was saying.’

‘She was using her acting skills when she made the comment about being back in the UK,’ he told Mail Online. ‘She clearly launched a PR offensive having received hostility from the British press.

‘If she met most members of the public in the UK she wouldn’t get good reception, but on stage with an audience that tends to be on her side – or is inclined to support her – she could get away saying very little and being applauded for it.’

Robert Jobson, author of ‘William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch’ echoed the sentiment, telling Mail Online: ‘There is no doubt that Meghan is a first class orator. She speaks with passion and engages her audience. I’m sure she is thrilled to have her voice back!

‘I’m sure too that after all the attacks she has made against the Queen and the British royal family Her Majesty leads, that her comment saying that it is good to be back in the UK should be taken with a pinch of salt.’

Mr Jobson said the speech made him feel as if Meghan has a ‘political agenda long term’ and is trying to prepare for a political role ‘maybe in Congress or the Senate.’

‘But to do that I think she must ditch the royal ‘duchess’ title that is linked to a system and a family she appears to despise,’ he added.

‘If she did that it might placate some people in the UK who feel both Harry and Meghan should be stripped of their royal title.’

‘But as they use their links with royalty to promote themselves I doubt she and her princely born husband will ever do that.’

Mr Dampier noted that Harry looked ‘ill at ease and embarrassed’ when Meghan referred to him in the address.

He also pointed out how the audience applauded Meghan’s ‘fairly dull’ remarks about being a wife and mother, even though they really didn’t apply to the young audience.

‘She was clearly among friends and the young audience was clearly on her side. They were applauding fairly dull remarks that she was a wife and mother,’ he said, adding: ‘But in terms of what she was actually saying, I haven’t a clue.

‘The speech was really about her. She was using it as a platform to talk about herself and her past involvement with the organisation but it didn’t tell the audience anything practical in terms of advice to fulfil their potential.’

The former Suits star, who was dressed in a vivid red high-necked sleek trouser suit, smiled broadly and held hands with the Duke of Sussex as the couple made their way through the auditorium to huge cheers, as delegates held up their phones to film them.

‘I joined you in London in 2019. And by that point, it’s fair to say, my life had changed rather significantly. I was now married, and I was now a mom,’ Meghan told the audience, leaving a pause at the end which was filled with huge cheers.

‘My world view had expanded exponentially, seeing the global community through the eyes of my child,’ she added, speaking about her son Archie.

She also spoke about the first time she was asked to be a counsellor for One Young World in 2014 and having a ‘pinch me moment’.

‘And there I was, the girl from Suits. I was surrounded by world leaders, humanitarians, prime ministers and activists that I had such a deep and long-standing respect and admiration for.

‘And I was allowed in, to pull up a seat at the table.

‘I was so overwhelmed by this experience, I think, I think I even saved my little paper place-marker with my name on it.

‘Just proof: proof that I was there, proof that I belonged, because the truth was, I wasn’t sure that I belonged.’

She added that she had doubted herself despite her what she saw as her ‘important and meaningful’ work, but said One Young World had seen in her ‘the present and the future’.

‘I was so nervous, I doubted myself and I wondered, wondered if I was good enough to even be there?

‘What I was doing in the world, albeit important and meaningful as far as I saw it, was it deserving to have a seat at this table?

‘But One Young World saw in me what I wanted to see fully in myself. They saw in me, just as I see in you, the present and the future.’

During the proceedings on Monday, the couple sat in the front row on stage, side by side on a bench, as they joined One Young World counsellors to watch the flag bearers enthusiastically parading the flags of more than 200 countries.

Meghan, with her hair in a ponytail, swayed in time to the music, which included Dancing In The Streets and Respect, as she clapped her hands.

Harry leaned over to whisper in his smiling wife’s ear a number of times.

To cheers, Meghan said in her speech: ‘I’m thrilled that my husband is able to join me here this time.’

She added: ‘My husband has long advocated for important and necessary impact in the world, focusing a huge part of his life’s work on the youth.

‘For both of us, bearing witness to the power that you hold in your hands and the unbridled enthusiasm and energy that you have to see things come to fruition, it is just an absolute privilege.’

The couple travelled by train from London to Manchester, and flew commercial from the US to the UK.

The Sussexes have reportedly hired one of Harry’s ex-Metropolitan Police protection officers, who is said to now work in the private sector, as part of their security team for the whirlwind working trip.

The duke is bringing legal action against the Home Office over a decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when in the UK.

Harry and Meghan are staying at their Frogmore Cottage home on the Windsor estate, but are not expected to meet with the Cambridges, who have moved to Adelaide Cottage, less than a 10-minute walk away.

Next stop for the Sussexes will be Germany, for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year To Go event, which is taking place on Tuesday, before they return to the UK for the WellChild Awards in London, where Harry will deliver a speech on Thursday.

 

Meghan opens her One Young World speech with a PR-friendly message about returning to Britain before gushing about Prince Harry and telling audience how becoming a mother was ‘life changing’ – before returning to London by train 

 ByLaurence Dollimoreand Mark Duelland Martin Robinson Chief Reporter For Mailonline

Meghan Markle has said ‘it is very nice to be back in the UK’ in her first speech in Britain since Megxit more than two years ago, as she gushed about Prince Harry and the ‘life-changing’ impact of becoming a mother to Archie. 

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, made the PR-friendly remarks on Monday night as she addressed the 2,000-strong crowd at the One Young World summit at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, as her smiling husband watched on. 

It came just days after her controversial interview with The Cut magazine, in which she said it takes ‘a lot of effort’ to forgive and hinted that she can ‘say anything’, in what was seen by some as a thinly-veiled threat to the Royal Family. 

She also said that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’ before they stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.

But her speech on Monday night was a jibe-free missive in which she said she was ‘thrilled’ that Harry could join her this year as the organisation was ‘an integral’ part of her life before she met him, and that it was now a ‘privilege’ to meet again with him by her side and ‘on UK soil’. 

The Duchess spoke about how her life had ‘changed dramatically by 2019’ and that her world view had ‘expanded exponentially’ after seeing ‘the global community through the eyes of my child.’ 

‘And I would ask what is this world that he would come to adopt and what can we do, what can I do, to make it better?’ she said. 

She told the audience, made up of young delegates from more than 190 countries, that they are ‘the future, but also the present, driving the positive and necessary change needed across the globe.’ 

The Duchess cut a chic figure in bright red trousers with a matching long-sleeved top and a slicked back ponytail, while Harry, 37, donned a dark suit, white-collared shirt and navy tie.  

The couple had travelled by train from London some hours earlier before arriving to the venue in a 4×4 BMW from the nearby Kimpton hotel – and they made a swift exit, leaving almost immediately after Meghan’s speech and a quick round of selfies. 

They were spotted catching the train home from Manchester Piccadilly station, before it is assumed they will return to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor ahead of their next stop at an Invictus Games ‘one year to go’ event in Dusseldorf. 

Meghan spoke of how she joined the One Young World organisation as a counsellor in 2014, describing her then-self as ‘young, ambitious and advocating for things I deeply and profoundly believed in.’ 

But the Duchess said she was filled with self-doubt, branding herself ‘the girl from Suits’.

She added: ‘I was surrounded by world leaders, humanitarians, prime ministers and activists that I had such a deep and longstanding respect and admiration for…. and I was asked to pull up a seat at the table.’ 

She said she felt overwhelmed by the experience and saved her place card which had her name printed on it as ‘proof that I was there and that I belonged.’ 

The royal couple had been placed centre stage for the flag-waving ceremony, with Sir Bob Geldof and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham sat to their right. 

Meghan swayed in time to the music, which included Dancing In The Streets and Respect, as she clapped her hands. 

The former Suits star is a counsellor for the organisation, and the summit brings together more than 2,000 ‘young leaders’ from more than 190 countries.

Harry and Meghan were earlier on Monday pictured going into a side entrance of London Euston as they took the train up to Manchester Piccadilly. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were driven the 27 miles from their UK base at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor to Euston in a hybrid electric Range Rover – a journey taking about an hour – before walking into the railway station.

The couple had earlier been seen grinning at each other when leaving Frogmore as they were photographed for the first time on their return to the UK before beginning their short European tour in the North West of England.

The Sussexes were accompanied by two bodyguards and followed by another Range Rover as they were driven out of the grounds of Windsor Castle. 

Harry and Meghan will have travelled on the significantly reduced service currently being operated by Avanti West Coast, with only one train an hour running from London to Manchester. 

Given that they arrived at Euston just after midday, they are likely to have taken the 12.20pm train to Manchester which arrived seven minutes late at 2.34pm. 

The venue for Monday’s event, Bridgewater Hall, is less than a mile away from Manchester Piccadilly train station.

The Duke and Duchess had spent the night less than half a mile from Prince William, Kate and their three children – but the families are not expected to meet, in a decision that underlines the deep rift between the brothers.

It is their first public appearance in the UK since returning for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June as Harry’s legal battle with the Home Office rumbles on after they were denied 24/7 taxpayer-funded armed police bodyguards.

They are going to Manchester for the opening of the One Young World summit, an event which brings together young leaders from more than 190 countries and where Meghan, 41, is due to give a speech on gender equality.

The couple’s decision to use at least two private security firms and dog teams to form a ring of steel around Bridgewater Hall comes just days after Meghan told The Cut magazine in the US that it takes ‘a lot of effort’ to forgive and hinted that she can ‘say anything’, in what has been translated as a veiled threat to the Royal Family.

The area outside the 2,300-seat venue was set to be cleared of the public an hour and a half before the couple arrive after 6pm, it has been reported. 

It is understood the couple and event organisers had arranged private security after Harry was told he was no longer entitled to taxpayer-funded official armed police bodyguards. 

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed its officers were not involved, adding that security for the event had been ‘privately sourced’.

Harry is suing the Home Office, claiming that the removal of his taxpayer-funded armed police protection bodyguards since they quit as frontline royals is ‘unfair’, ‘illegal’ and puts his family at risk.

Next stop is Germany for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year To Go event which is taking place on Tuesday, before they return to the UK for the WellChild Awards in London where Harry will speak on Thursday.

As well as not seeing William and Kate, the couple also declined an ‘open invitation’ to stay with Prince Charles at his Scottish holiday house on the Balmoral estate. The Prince of Wales told the couple they were ‘always welcome’ at his home ahead of their trip to the UK, palace sources confirmed. 

Monday it emerged that Prince William has ‘no plans’ to see his younger brother Prince Harry until after the California-based royal releases his bombshell memoir this winter, even though the pair are currently staying around 380ft apart, as the crow flies, from each other in Windsor.

William, 40, and his wife, Kate Middleton, are said to be avoiding contact with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex until they know what the couple plans to disclose in their Netflix documentary and Harry’s forthcoming book.

‘They have lost their chance of being trusted as the chance is they will record any conversation and use it against them,’ Royal biographer Angela Levin told The Sun.

Levin alleged William does not have faith that Harry, 37, will not repeat their conversations. The author said William’s hesitance to interact with the Sussexes is their ‘own fault for vastly exaggerating and being rude.’

Harry and Meghan, 41, are believed to have arrived at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor on Saturday ahead of their European tour. The property is located just 380 feet away from the Cambridges’ new four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, where William and Kate spent the weekend with their children.

The insiders told The Mirror that Charles had thought the Sussexes staying with Prince Charles would be a ‘good opportunity for everyone to take stock and relax.’ 

‘But the invitation was declined, as it has been before,’ the source said, adding that Charles hasn’t ‘wavered’ on his attempts to have a relationship with his son ‘despite the attacks which seem to be coming with increased vigour.’

News of the declined invitation surfaced after Charles, 73, was pictured heading to church in Balmoral alone Sunday morning. Insiders allege he continues to find Harry and Meghan’s jibes at the Royal Family ‘painful’ and is ‘completely bewildered’ by their behaviour. 

Harry and Meghan are in the UK this week for two charity events. The couple are travelling to Manchester on Monday where Meghan is due to give a speech on gender equality.

The couple has asked private security firms to provide a ‘ring of steel’ in Manchester for their appearance at the One Young World young leaders’ forum, amid a row over who pays for their protection on UK soil.

‘One would have thought if such concerns existed, the best place to be would be next to the family, but there you go,’ the palace insider said of their alleged safety worries.

Two different dog teams were seen at the venue on Sunday including one from private firm Global Support Services, which provides protection dogs, specialist detection dogs, close protection and other security services.

The couple’s trip comes amid Harry’s ongoing legal battle with the Government over his security when in the UK. He launched legal action after he was told he would no longer be given the ‘same degree’ of personal protection after stepping back from the Royal Family in 2020.

He said he did not feel safe under current security arrangements bringing his family here and has offered to pay for British police to act as bodyguards himself. Last month, he won a bid to bring a High Court claim against the Home Office.

Meghan and Harry are understood to have arrived in the UK on Saturday and stayed at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor despite insiders alleging they were invited to stay with Charles.

Neither representatives for Prince Charles or the Sussexes immediately responded to Mail Online’s request for comment.

The Prince of Wales, who was pictured arriving alone at church in Balmoral on Sunday morning, is said to have been wounded by the words and actions of his son and daughter-in-law and is likely fearing further attacks this week. 

A friend of the prince said Charles was ‘completely bewildered about why his son, whom he loves deeply, feels this is the way to go about managing family relationships’.

Insiders say the 73-year-old ‘loves and misses’ Harry, Meghan and his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, and feels particularly hurt after spending time with them during the Platinum Jubilee in June.

Charles is thought to have seen their time together as a ‘minor act of reparation’ after the Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 which saw Harry say he felt ‘really let down’ by his father.

Meantime, the Queen is said to be keeping calm and carrying on, but a source told The Sunday Times she did not want to be ‘on tenterhooks’ all the time waiting for the ‘next nuclear bomb’ from the Sussexes.

Another Palace source told the newspaper: ‘Ultimately, they are bashing the institution that has put them in the position they’re in – the longevity of that strategy is not sustainable.’ 

Harry and Meghan have taken part in several interviews since their departure from royal life, including their controversial sit-down with Oprah during which they accused the Royal Family of racism and said the institution failed to help a suicidal Meghan.

Tensions were raised further last week after an interview which saw Meghan suggest the Sussexes had been forced to move across the Atlantic because ‘by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’.

Speaking to US magazine The Cut, she also claimed her husband had ‘lost’ his father, with sources close to the couple saying this wasn’t a reference to Prince Charles, but her estrangement with her own father.

Royal insiders have branded the interview, which also saw Meghan compare herself to Nelson Mandela, as ‘delusional’ and have expressed concerns about the impact of their comments on the Queen.

One said that the Queen, who is now 96 and has pulled out of a string of public events in recent months amid ongoing fears for her health, does not ‘want to be on tenterhooks’ and constantly waiting for the ‘next nuclear bomb’.

Analysts allege Harry’s upcoming memoir, which is expected to be out in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, is also expected to slam the monarchy.

The contents of the tell-all memoir still remain a mystery, including to the Royal family who will get to read the book at the same time as the public. 

Sources close to the Prince of Wales reportedly told The Telegraph last month that he had hoped his team would have been sent a copy of the book ahead of its publication. However, they claim neither he nor the Duke of Cambridge – or their attorneys – have received specifics about the book.

Harry spent time researching the life and death of his mother, Princess Diana, while writing the time. Some fear he may express an angry narrative towards his stepmother Camilla.

Little is also known about Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, which the pair are currently filming. Though Meghan has hinted that the film could focus on their ‘love story’. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s production company, Archewell Productions, signed a reported $100million deal with the streaming giant in 2020 but there has yet to be a release. 

A documentary series about the Invictus Games has been confirmed. Meghan’s planned animated children’s series was scrapped as part of wider Netflix cutbacks.  

It had previously been rumoured that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were planning a fly-on-the-wall documentary series, in the style of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. 

Meghan has also revealed she was writing a daily journal before she and Harry stepped down as working royals. Some fears she too may publish a book with ‘more bombshell revelations’.

The California-based royal said in her interview with The Cut that she was packing up ‘personal matters’ from Frogmore Cottage in June when she came across the diary.

Meghan told the interviewer: ‘You go back and you open drawers and you’re like, Oh my gosh. This is what I was writing in my journal there?’

Her remark sparked fears that the discovery of the diary will ‘trigger warning signals’ for the Royal Family. 

After Monday’s trip to Manchester, the Sussexes will travel to Dusseldorf on Tuesday to mark a year before Harry’s next Invictus Games. 

They will return to Britain for the WellChild Awards ceremony in London on Thursday, where Harry will deliver a speech.

As well as a huge security operation, media access has also been severely curtailed to the events in the UK, with only hand-picked journalists able to cover them.

The Queen is in Balmoral in Scotland, where she is due to meet the new prime minister on Tuesday. 

The Sussexes have no official plans on Wednesday, meaning they have time to see the Queen, but royal sources say this is unlikely to happen as she has a busy week.

A friend of Charles told the Sunday Times that the Prince of Wales continues to be hurt by the public proclamations not only about the royal family, but about himself personally.  

The friend says: ‘For two years, there has been a steady stream of really challenging things said about a man who cannot [publicly] defend himself by a couple he obviously loves and misses. 

‘That is incredibly difficult on a personal level. He is completely bewildered by why his son, whom he loves deeply, feels this is the way to go about managing family relationships.’

Sources close to Prince William say he is less concerned by the jibes than his father, with one saying: ‘he’s not really spending much time thinking about it’.

A new rift was opened between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family following Meghan’s interview with The Cut last week.

Coinciding with the launch of her new Spotify podcast, the Duchess of Sussex claimed she had been compared to South African hero Nelson Mandela and claimed Harry had ‘lost’ his father Charles during Megxit.

In her wide-ranging interview with The Cut, running to more than 6,000 words, Meghan said that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’ before they stepped down as senior working royals.

She also she said it takes ‘a lot of effort’ to forgive and hinted that she can ‘say anything’ after not signing any confidentiality agreements with the royals.

Sources in royal circles have since hit back at the couple, branding their tirades against life as working royals ‘delusional’ and ‘tragic’ – and sensationally suggesting that they ‘rail against the system as much as they still do’ even after Megxit to sustain public and therefore commercial interest in their ‘brand’.

The couple’s actions also seemingly contradict the public statement they released in January 2020, after reaching a deal with the Queen to leave the royal life, in which they pledged that ‘everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty’.

At the so-called ‘Sandringham Summit’, Harry gave up his military appointments and their public funding was halted, allowing them go to the United States where they have signed multi-million pound deals with the likes of Spotify and Netflix.

Regardless, the Queen has repeatedly said the Sussexes remain ‘much-loved’ by the royal family. But one source told the Sunday Times: ‘It is hard to see how what they’re doing would equate to the values of the Queen, who has never encouraged people to discuss deeply personal family relationships in public.’

The couple’s visit to the UK follows Meghan’s bombshell interview during which she claimed a South African cast member of the Lion King film told her ‘they rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison’ when she married Harry.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the star-studded premiere of the Disney remake in July 2019, rubbing shoulders with A-listers including Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

‘I just had Archie. It was such a cruel chapter. I was scared to go out,’ she said in an interview, alleging a cast member from South Africa had pulled her aside.

‘He looked at me, and he’s just like light. He said ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison’.’

The Duchess of Sussex did not name the cast member. However, an actor who says he’s the only South African in Lion King live action film claims he actually never met Meghan.

Dr John Kani told Mail Online earlier this week he believes the Duchess of Sussex made ‘a faux pas’ after she used her interview to imply her 2018 royal wedding sparked celebrations in South Africa reminiscent of the release of his friend Madiba, the legendary anti-apartheid leader.

He said Mr Mandela’s walk to freedom after 27 years was a ‘landmark moment’ while her marriage to Prince Harry was ‘no big deal’ in South Africa, adding that the two events ‘cannot be spoken in the same breath’ and ‘you can’t really say where you were when Meghan married Harry’.

But Dr Kani, a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company who voiced the mandrill shaman Rafiki, told MailOnline that he was the only South African in the Disney movie, has never met Meghan and was not at the UK premiere.

He said the only other South African who was involved was Lebo M, a composer who together with Hans Zimmer was responsible for the music for The Lion King. But Lebo M was not in the cast.

The article also heard from Harry who suggested some members of the Royal Family ‘aren’t able to work and live together’, while Meghan revealed that her husband told her that he had ‘lost’ his father Prince Charles.

Meghan told The Cut magazine: ‘Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process.’ It doesn’t have to be the same for them as it was for me, but that’s his decision.’

However allies of the couple later clarified that the duchess had actually been referring to the breakdown of her relationship with her own father.

Meghan’s unofficial spokesman Omid Scobie wrote on social media: ‘I understand that Prince Harry is actually referring to Meghan’s loss of her own father, and Meghan is saying she doesn’t want Harry to lose his.’

A source close to Prince Charles said last week he would be saddened if Harry felt their relationship was lost, adding: ‘The Prince of Wales loves both his sons.’

Asked about the confusion regarding Meghan’s comment, The Cut declined to comment.

A source added: ‘This line is a direct quote from Meghan’s interview with Allison, and as a general rule, we don’t comment or speculate on sources’ intent outside of the text of the story.’ Meghan said she and Harry felt they had to leave Britain because of negative media coverage, including of their £2.4million refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

EXCLUSIVE: The bodyguards-for-hire keeping Harry and Meghan safe: Sussexes are flanked on UK return by two retired ex-Met cops from private firm run by top security expert – including one who protected Duchess at her baby shower

• EXCLUSIVE: Duke and Duchess of Sussex have employed Dave Langdown – who was honoured by the Queen
• Former royal protection bodyguard is one of two ex-officers working for Harry and Meghan on their UK trip
• Mr Langdown is understood to have first been assigned to protect Harry when royal was in his twenties
• He was on Harry’s trip to Las Vegas where the royal reportedly played naked billiards with a stripper
• Dave would later accompany Meghan on her baby shower organised by Serena Williams and Amal Clooney

The Sussexes are ‘paying a bomb’ for two ex-Met Police officers to protect them in the UK including a British bodyguard honoured by the Queen who went with Meghan to New York for her baby shower and accompanied Harry on his trip to Las Vegas where the royal infamously played naked billiards with a stripper, MailOnline revealed on Monday.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had Dave Langdown in the passenger seat of their Range Rover as they left Frogmore Cottage this morning driven by another man who recently left Scotland Yard having worked in diplomatic protection. Mr Langdown was later seen helping them from their car as the caught a train from Euston.

A senior security source told MailOnline: ‘Dave is lovely guy and a very experienced royal protection officer who worked for Harry for many years. Harry clearly trusts him – so much so that he accompanied Meghan on her baby shower in New York. He was also with Harry in Vegas’. 

The couple are in Manchester this evening where Ms Markle will give a speech on gender equality at the opening of the One Young World summit, where they are protected by private security amid the row over who pays for their protection on UK soil.

MailOnline understands that Mr Langdown, now in the private sector, served as Harry’s taxpayer-funded bodyguard for more than a decade, including through some of the most tumultuous periods of his life – and on the royal’s wild trip to Las Vegas in 2012. 

In January this year he was given an honour by the Queen – the Royal Victorian Medal – for services to the Royal Family.

When Harry married Meghan Markle, he trusted him to accompany his wife to New York for her baby shower organised by Serena Williams and Amal Clooney and Dave accompanied them on their royal engagements across the UK.

He was seen carrying her shopping bags while Meghan was heavily pregnant with Archie after partying with her friends in the Penthouse Suite at The Mark Hotel, which is widely reported to be the most expensive hotel room in the US.

Dave is understood to have retired from the Met in the past year with his job protecting the Sussexes believed to be ‘one of his first in the private sector.

He is believed to have first started working for Harry when the Met assigned to protect him when he was in his twenties.

He was photographed next to a topless and single Harry as he drank and danced with his friends at a pool party at the MGM Grand in the heart of Sin City, surrounded by beautiful bikini-clad women in 2012.

It was on the same trip where embarrassing shots of Harry playing ‘strip billiards’ in Room 2401 at the Encore Wynn Hotel emerged. He was alleged to have kissed a stripper, Carrie Reicher, who recently put a pair of his black underpants she claims he tore off up for auction with a $1million price tag.

Mr Langdown is now believed to be working as director of US operations for Broadstone Risks, run by CEO Peter Miles, a former officer with the Home Office and Metropolitan Police whose company has protected stars including Beyonce, JayZ, and Ariana Grande.

Mr Miles gave evidence at the inquiry into the Manchester bombing, where 23 people were murdered by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive after a Ariana Grande gig.

MailOnline has asked Broadstone Risks to comment.

Private security firms will provide a ‘ring of steel’ in Manchester for the Sussexes’ appearance at the One Young World young leaders’ forum on Monday, amid a row over who pays for their protection on UK soil.

Specialist dog teams were seen at the Bridgewater Hall, where Meghan will give her speech. The couple caught the train to Manchester from Euston.

It is understood the couple and event organisers have arranged security after Harry was told he was no longer entitled to taxpayer-funded official armed police bodyguards. 

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed its officers were not involved, adding that security for the event had been ‘privately sourced’.

Two different dog teams were seen at the venue yesterday including one from private firm Global Support Services, which provides protection dogs, specialist detection dogs, close protection and other security services.

A spaniel was also seen being put into a van marked ‘Specialist Search Dogs’, which had the numberplate SN13 FER.

A team of cleaners were also on site, washing windows and using a leaf blower to clear pathways. The area outside the 2,300-seat venue will be cleared of the public an hour and a half before the couple arrive, it has been reported.

It means they will avoid hearing any public boos which greeted the Sussexes at the Queen’s thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral in June. The couple’s trip comes amid Harry’s ongoing legal battle with the Government over his security when in the UK.

 

He launched legal action after he was told he would no longer be given the ‘same degree’ of personal protection after stepping back from the Royal Family in 2020.

He said he did not feel safe under current security arrangements bringing his family here and has offered to pay for British police to act as bodyguards himself. Last month, he won a bid to bring a High Court claim against the Home Office. Meghan and Harry are understood to have arrived in the UK on Saturday and stayed at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

A team of private security guards turned up at Windsor on Friday ahead of their arrival.

After Monday’s trip to Manchester, the Sussexes will travel to Dusseldorf n Tuesday to mark a year before Harry’s next Invictus Games. They will return to Britain for the WellChild Awards ceremony in London on Thursday, where Harry will deliver a speech.

The Queen is in Balmoral in Scotland, where she is due to meet the new prime minister Liz Truss on Tuesday.