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Why Meghan will ‘never set foot in the UK again’ · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, December thirty as The Australian's europe correspondent Jacqueline
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  Speaker 1: Magnate covers Olympic Games, papal elections, UK politics, natural disasters,
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  Speaker 1: wars and of course the Royals. Twenty twenty five has
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  Speaker 1: been a huge year for the House of Windsor, and
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  Speaker 1: today Jack joins us to reveal what courtiers are really
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  Speaker 1: saying about the King's cancer, Prince Harry's prospects of coming home,
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  Speaker 1: Megan Michael's future, and the occasional moment when even the
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  Speaker 1: most popular royal, Catherine, Princess of Wales, gets it wrong.
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  Speaker 1: In twenty twenty five, the House of Windsor mourned one
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  Speaker 1: close family member that it is with deep sorrow that
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  Speaker 1: Buckingham Palace announces the death of her Royal Highness, the
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  Speaker 1: Duchess of Canes, and orchestrated the demise of another.
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  Speaker 2: Prince, Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatton. Windsor.
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  Speaker 1: King Charles goes into twenty twenty six still fighting one
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  Speaker 1: undisclosed form of cancer, although he has said his treatment
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  Speaker 1: is reducing and he's on the end. Catherine, Princess of Wales,
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  Speaker 1: continued her recovery from another, also undisclosed form of cancer.
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  Speaker 2: Melaney and I are delighted to visit again with Prince
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  Speaker 2: William and to see her Royal Highness Princess Catherine, so
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  Speaker 2: radiant and so healthy.
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  Speaker 1: So beautiful. Prince Harry sued the United Kingdom and lost,
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  Speaker 1: lost again, and then won a review of his security arrangements.
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  Speaker 1: Meghan Michael and her TV show were quietly dropped by Netflix.
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  Speaker 3: The extension of it, which was such an incredible sign
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  Speaker 3: of the strength of our partnership, was now being a
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  Speaker 3: first look deal, which is also exciting because it gives
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  Speaker 3: us flexibility to go to our partners first and then
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  Speaker 3: at the same time to be able to sharp content
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  Speaker 3: that might not be the rate fit for a Netflix
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  Speaker 3: book has a home somewhere else, and all of it was.
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  Speaker 1: Covered thanks to her excellent contacts in the Royal household
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  Speaker 1: by our own europe correspondent Jacqueline Magnee Jack. This year,
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  Speaker 1: King Charles took pretty serious action against his brother Prince Andrew,
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  Speaker 1: after the revelations about his entanglement with Jeffrey Epstein in
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  Speaker 1: the United States. What was your view and how did
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  Speaker 1: you go about reporting Charles's actions in regard to Andrew.
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  Speaker 2: Well, when it happened, it was in October of twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty five, and of course this story has been rumbling
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  Speaker 2: along for many, many, many years, and it seemed that
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  Speaker 2: the royal family wanted to try and just bury it.
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  Speaker 2: That they wanted if they thought their normal modus operandi
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  Speaker 2: to if you just ignore it and forget about it,
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  Speaker 2: people will forget about it. But it didn't happen because
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  Speaker 2: of the court cases in America kept bringing up Andrew's
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  Speaker 2: association with Virginia Guchrie. And so when the queen gave
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  Speaker 2: her son, you know, twelve million pounds in her final
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  Speaker 2: year of life to make this go away, I think
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  Speaker 2: the royals thought that that would be the end of
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  Speaker 2: the matter. But it wasn't, of course, and I think
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  Speaker 2: what King Charles did was rather extreme. I mean, this
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  Speaker 2: is unprecedented to strip your brother of his titles to
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  Speaker 2: the point that he's now a commoner. You know, he's
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  Speaker 2: known as Andrew mount Baton windsor mister Andrew mount Batten Windsor,
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  Speaker 2: and all of that privilege, all of that status has
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  Speaker 2: now gone and it seems a really harsh punishment, which
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  Speaker 2: for something that is not yet proven in court. It's
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  Speaker 2: a contested allegation. So what happened with the royal family,
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  Speaker 2: it was seen as a real shock. But I spoke
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  Speaker 2: to a few of the courtiers and some of the
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  Speaker 2: palisades trying to understand the reasoning for such extreme action,
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  Speaker 2: and there was a lot of anger about Andrew not
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  Speaker 2: wanting to leave Royal Lodge, which was this ostentatious thirty
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  Speaker 2: room mansion that he's been living in for decades. Pays
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  Speaker 2: a peppercorn rent, but he does have an ironclad lease
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  Speaker 2: on it, and so that was causing enormous frustration for
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  Speaker 2: not only King Charles, but for Prince William, because they
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  Speaker 2: wanted Andrew to be seen to not be living a
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  Speaker 2: lavish lifestyle. That they wanted him to basically go away
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  Speaker 2: and just live quietly and not be promoted as a
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  Speaker 2: senior royal, But of course Andrew had many different ideas
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  Speaker 2: about that. So this action by King Charles was rather
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  Speaker 2: severe and unprecedented, and it was also done with an
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  Speaker 2: eye to trying to stop any spillover or any consequences
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  Speaker 2: for Prince Harry, because of course He's the other duke
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  Speaker 2: that has trashed the Royal family brand and is a
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  Speaker 2: constant source of some disquiet amongst the Royal family, the
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  Speaker 2: various things that he and Meghan, his wife, get up to.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that they felt that by taking such
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  Speaker 2: extreme action against Andrew, it would stop any such action
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  Speaker 2: against Prince Harry, because Charles does not want to punish
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  Speaker 2: Prince Harry in any way. He wants to re establish
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  Speaker 2: relationship chips with his son. So it's one of those
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  Speaker 2: things that will at work. I don't know. I think
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  Speaker 2: it really opens up a can of worms now that
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  Speaker 2: the British Parliament could perhaps put extra pressure on the
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  Speaker 2: Monarch whenever a member of the Royal family is seen
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  Speaker 2: to be doing something untoward or damaging to the Royal
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  Speaker 2: Family or to British life, that the Parliament may try
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  Speaker 2: and extract a bit more of their power and wield it.
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  Speaker 1: What's your sense of William's involvement in that decision to
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  Speaker 1: freeze out Andrew quite so spectacularly.
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  Speaker 2: Well, William and Andrew don't get on. It's kind of
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  Speaker 2: well known, and we see that in their body language
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  Speaker 2: between the two, and you will not see William defending
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  Speaker 2: Andrew at all and in fact very much distancing himself
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  Speaker 2: from his uncle. And I'm sure that William was consulted,
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  Speaker 2: but I've been told that it was very much King
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  Speaker 2: Charles's decision, and that Charles felt that constitutionally he had
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  Speaker 2: to put an end to this and by doing so,
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  Speaker 2: he's allowing Andrew to move out of the Royal Lodge
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  Speaker 2: and move into a house on his own private estate
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  Speaker 2: in Sandringham. Of course this was a decision that William
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  Speaker 2: wholeheartedly supported, but from what I've been told that it
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  Speaker 2: was actually Charles's decision and what he felt was the
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  Speaker 2: right thing to do.
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  Speaker 4: Well. This is a pretty significant U turner. After years
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  Speaker 4: of legal back and forth for Prince Harry, the UK
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  Speaker 4: government has now agreed to carry out a fresh security
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  Speaker 4: review looking into whether the Duke of Sussex should again
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  Speaker 4: receive taxpayer funded, round the clock police protection when he
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  Speaker 4: visits the UK, even though he's no longer a working minial.
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  Speaker 1: I'm intrigued that you say that Charles is keen to
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  Speaker 1: reconcile with Harry, because you know, Charles is the king
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  Speaker 1: now he could rip up the rule that Queen Elizabeth created.
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  Speaker 1: That means that Meghan and Harry Eric soul in California,
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  Speaker 1: are not allowed to do any royal duties, not allowed
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  Speaker 1: to call themselves. He's in her Royal Highness. Why doesn't
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  Speaker 1: Charles just change the rules and allow them to have
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  Speaker 1: security in the United Kingdom and let them be kind
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  Speaker 1: of half in half outed as they wanted.
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  Speaker 2: Well, he doesn't want that because he knows that the
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  Speaker 2: public in Britain would not be accepting of that decision.
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  Speaker 2: He knows that Meghan and Harry don't want to come
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  Speaker 2: back to the UK, that Meghan is so unpopular that
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  Speaker 2: she will not set foot in the UK, I don't
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  Speaker 2: think in her lifetime. So it's quite easy decision for
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  Speaker 2: him not to have to even go down that path
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  Speaker 2: to enact a new royal decree, which would also have
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  Speaker 2: to get parliamentary approval and would take up some significant
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  Speaker 2: time in the Commons. So he doesn't want his family
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  Speaker 2: spat to be played out amongst politicians, So he wants
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  Speaker 2: to deal with it in his own way and we'll
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  Speaker 2: do it within the existing framework. And it seems to
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  Speaker 2: me that he's been waiting for Harry's legal problems or
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  Speaker 2: legal actions in the UK to finish because as the monarch,
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  Speaker 2: he is actually representing the law in the UK, so
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  Speaker 2: he can't be seen to be having a relationship with
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  Speaker 2: Harry while Harry is essentially suing the King. So it
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  Speaker 2: creates a constitutional issue, especially if Harry then decides to
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  Speaker 2: give some interview about a particular conversation he may have
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  Speaker 2: had with his father. If he suddenly reveals that, oh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, Dad says, you know this is wrong, then
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  Speaker 2: suddenly it would create an unbelievable constitutional crisis. So the King,
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  Speaker 2: he is very mindful of his duties in that regard,
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  Speaker 2: and he has been trying to get Harry to drop
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  Speaker 2: all these legal cases. But Harry is very determined and
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  Speaker 2: stubborn and persisting in them. But I really don't believe
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  Speaker 2: that Meghan will come over in any way, shape or form.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up, we need to talk about Meghan.
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  Speaker 4: I love the holiday season.
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  Speaker 3: It's about finding time to connect with the people we love.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you curated a Christmas tree and a Christmas feast,
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  Speaker 1: Jack in line with Meghan Markle's instructions in her holiday special.
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  Speaker 1: I've found myself draw unto the second season of her
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  Speaker 1: TV show like a car crash. I could not stop
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  Speaker 1: watching her you know, making candles in her crafting barn,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, learning how to open a sea arch.
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  Speaker 1: And what struck me about the show is that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's she's so close to being kind of warm and relatable.
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  Speaker 1: But for me, there are two factors. One is that
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  Speaker 1: everything she prepares involves thousands of dollars of expense. You know,
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  Speaker 1: the crafting barn alone would be a multimillion dollar property.
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  Speaker 1: You could put two families in it. And also she
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  Speaker 1: talks a lot about showing up in small ways for
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  Speaker 1: people and showing your love with little gestures.
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  Speaker 3: Embracing traditions I like this, and making new ones.
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  Speaker 1: But in the big gestures, like for example, speaking to
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  Speaker 1: your own father or allowing your children to see their grandfather,
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  Speaker 1: the King, she doesn't show up at all.
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  Speaker 2: No, and that's the problem is the fakery about it.
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  Speaker 4: All.
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  Speaker 2: The people want to see some honesty and genuineness, and
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  Speaker 2: we don't get that because we know it's not true.
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  Speaker 2: In the holiday special, she is promoting, you know, Christmas
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  Speaker 2: as a time for family experiences and togetherness, and yet
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  Speaker 2: in her own family there's so much division, and she
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  Speaker 2: hasn't seen her own father in years that you know,
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  Speaker 2: her children have not seen their grandfather, her father, and
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  Speaker 2: they haven't seen King Charles very often at all, or
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  Speaker 2: they certainly would not have remembered meeting him. So it's
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  Speaker 2: this situation where she does one thing and says another,
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  Speaker 2: and I don't think the viewership really warms to her
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  Speaker 2: because of that. And some of it's so silly. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: who makes lavender balls to put in a Christmas cracker
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  Speaker 2: for their four year old daughter. I mean it's like,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know what four year olds are into wellness
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  Speaker 2: and smelling a scent. I mean they would just want
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  Speaker 2: to get some stickers or a coloring in pen and
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  Speaker 2: you know, go wild or a bike. I mean, let's
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  Speaker 2: get real here.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to watch someone who is at the
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  Speaker 1: center of the family is cattering the Princess of Wales.
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  Speaker 1: She's become the kind of superstar of the royals, and
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  Speaker 1: it helps that she's incredibly beautiful, I think, and looks
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  Speaker 1: great in a tiara. She has really returned to public
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  Speaker 1: life this year, hasn't she jack after recovering from cancer.
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  Speaker 2: Well, she has, but it's been very carefully calibrated and
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  Speaker 2: when she does make an appearance, a lot is made
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  Speaker 2: of it. So it may see that she's doing a lot,
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  Speaker 2: but actually she's not. Her appearances are very very carefully
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  Speaker 2: put in the diary. They're only ever confirmed hours before
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  Speaker 2: she turns up. They're allowing her a lot of regal
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  Speaker 2: room to get out of things if she doesn't feel
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  Speaker 2: a hundred. So it's not as though it is business
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  Speaker 2: as usual for Catherine. But we do see her now
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  Speaker 2: making more of an effort, and she has certain causes
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  Speaker 2: that are very dear to her heart, and so she's
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  Speaker 2: prioritizing those and we saw that late November when she
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  Speaker 2: gave a speech about early childhood, and that's a passion
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  Speaker 2: project of hers.
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  Speaker 5: As business leaders, you'll face the daily challenge at finding
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  Speaker 5: the balance between profitability and having a positive impact, but
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  Speaker 5: the two are not and should not be incompatible.
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  Speaker 2: It didn't go down that well actually this speech because
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  Speaker 2: people thought that she was lecturing them about, or certainly
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  Speaker 2: lecturing businesses about allowing workers more time off and being
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: more flexible in working hours. And it came around the
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  Speaker 2: time of the budget where everyone is on tenderhooks about
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  Speaker 2: tax rises and the cost of living pressures over here
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  Speaker 2: extreme and so suddenly there's a little bit of criticism
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  Speaker 2: being thrown at the Royal family because they're an obvious
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  Speaker 2: target of having wealth and opulence and privilege, and people
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  Speaker 2: are starting to question a little bit, and certainly when
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  Speaker 2: that questioning is directed at Catherine, who's the most popular
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  Speaker 2: member of the royal family, then I think people are
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  Speaker 2: suddenly taking notice that well, certainly within the Royal family,
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  Speaker 2: they're noticing that, hey, we need to be a little
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  Speaker 2: bit more down with the people and being out and
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  Speaker 2: about a lot more. So I think we'll see a
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  Speaker 2: lot more of that. I'll also think we'll see the
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  Speaker 2: Royal family try and you know, they call it modern eye,
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  Speaker 2: but essentially just being more in touch with what the
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  Speaker 2: normal Britain is going through. And they can't be seen
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  Speaker 2: to be activists. And we saw that with King Charles
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  Speaker 2: when he was prince, he was very much an activist,
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  Speaker 2: right letters all the time, and he's certainly changed his
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  Speaker 2: ways now he's king. But I think Prince William has
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  Speaker 2: to be a little bit careful with the causes that
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  Speaker 2: he's also pushing that he's not dividing the country. He
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  Speaker 2: really has to bring the country together and bring the
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  Speaker 2: country with him, so that will be a real challenge
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  Speaker 2: for him in the next couple of years. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: it looks like with King Charles's cancer that he's still
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  Speaker 2: betting treatment for but he looks pretty healthy, actually, doesn't
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  Speaker 2: he so, but that is also hanging over the royal
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  Speaker 2: family that there could be a coronation sooner rather than later.
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  Speaker 2: And so Prince William faces, you know, several decades on
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  Speaker 2: the throne, and you know he will do it his
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  Speaker 2: own way. But he's a man who's a lot quieter
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  Speaker 2: and a lot more private than previous monarchs. So it'll
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  Speaker 2: be interesting to see what tone he adopts and how
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  Speaker 2: he changes to the challenges that the Royal family are
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  Speaker 2: going to face.
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  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magnet is The Australian's europe correspondent. You can read
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  Speaker 1: her reporting and all the best journalism from around the world,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: including our partners The Wall Street Journal and The Times
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: of London, anytime at The Australian dot com dot au