Mail: Why didn’t Prince Harry stay in a palace rather than Althorp last week?

Over the weekend, the Mail decided to push a narrative that Prince Harry is desperate to come back to royal life and he’s begging the Windsors to please let him come back (without Meghan) to do some ribbon-cuttings because he’s so bored with living in a Montecito mansion and banging his hot wife. As you can imagine, “sources close to Harry” shut down the story within 48 hours, insisting that of course Harry has no desire to return to the UK to live and work. People Mag also got calls from the Sussex camp, and they underlined that no, lol, Harry isn’t coming back, but again, he would love to visit every so often so he could do some work with his British charities.

Speculation has grown that the Duke of Sussex is seeking a return to royal life, following a Sept. 1 report by the Mail on Sunday. The report suggested that Harry, who stepped back from royal duties with Meghan Markle in 2020, has been asking former aides and friends to explore ways for a partial reintegration into the royal fold. However, sources who previously worked with Harry tell PEOPLE they were surprised by the claim.

Instead, the Duke of Sussex is happy with his life in California, focused on raising his young family with Meghan and continuing his work there, with an upcoming visit in New York City later this month, PEOPLE understands.

What is clear, as one ally noted, is that Harry is eager to visit friends in the U.K. and work directly, rather than through Zoom, with the charities he remains connected to in his homeland, including WellChild. He also wants to bring his family — Meghan, 43, and their children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3 — back to the U.K. for visits. However, he feels that his lack of automatic access to official security, which was lost after he and Meghan stepped back from royal duties, is a significant obstacle.

During his visit to the U.K. for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games in May, including a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Harry was said to have truly enjoyed reconnecting with the community and meeting old friends and supporters. Despite conflicting reports about why he chose not to stay at an offered royal residence, a royal source tells PEOPLE that the trip “went well,” noting that Harry was clearly uplifted by spending time with friends and family.

“Hopefully, he can find it increasingly easy in the future,” a family friend says.

[From People]

The security issue is fascinating to me because Harry has made it perfectly clear that this is the biggest obstacle. The Windsors always conveniently forget this until the Sussexes travel somewhere else where their security is guaranteed, then suddenly it’s “wHaT abOuT THe sECuriTy.”

Speaking of, from what I can tell, Harry’s visit to the UK last week was done so under-the-radar, he probably did not inform Buckingham Palace OR the Met Police about his visit. The “tell” is that his visit surprised everyone, as evidenced by their hysterical reporting over the course of five days. Harry is not flatly required to inform BP and the Met Police of his visits, he only has to give them 30 days notice if he wants temporary royal protection, which is judged on a case by case basis. It feels like Harry didn’t notify anyone but the Spencer family about his plans to attend Robert Fellowes’ funeral, and Harry reportedly stayed with his uncle, the Earl Spencer, at Althorp. This was too much for Sarah Vine to take. She pissed out this Mail column:

Far from signalling some form of rapprochement with his estranged family, Prince Harry’s visit to the UK last week (to attend a memorial service for his aunt Jane’s late husband, Lord Fellowes) seems to have only widened the abyss. Not only did he and his brother Prince William fail to exchange a single word in church, perhaps more tellingly it has now emerged that he stayed with his uncle, Charles Spencer, at the family’s stately home, Althorp, in Northamptonshire.

You may well ask, why shouldn’t Prince Harry stay with his uncle? After all, his mother is buried at Althorp, which means a part of him will always call it home. That’s true. But the way the information has come to light – via an American publication with established links to the Sussexes – is certainly intriguing.

Prince Harry could easily have been put up at one of the royal residences for this visit. The King has made it clear that his door is always open to his youngest son. But not only did Harry choose not to (in fact, he didn’t see his father at all on this trip, despite the fact that the King is still receiving treatment for cancer), he made a point of staying with Earl Spencer.

It’s fair to say there is no love lost between the monarch and the Earl. Anyone who remembers Earl Spencer’s coruscating speech at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 knows that. He has always held the King – and by extension the Royal Family – responsible for his sister’s agonies, and he’s not entirely wrong. Princess Diana was poorly treated by Charles in some respects; in others, though, she very much gave as good as she got.

Nonetheless, Harry clearly takes a more one-sided view, and has said as much in his various attacks on screen and in print against his father. In fact, many of the Duke’s difficulties, especially over the past few years, arguably stem from what he sees as the ultimate betrayal of his mother by his father. Not only does he need someone to blame for his loss – he also needs someone to punish. To begin with, it was just his father and, in private, Queen Camilla. But now Prince William is being punished, too (along with Kate) for their decision to put duty ahead of anything else.

This snub to his father and brother sends a clear, unequivocal message. Prince Harry is not offering any kind of olive branch; he’s doubling down.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Princess Diana was poorly treated by Charles in some respects; in others, though, she very much gave as good as she got.” She did not give as good as she got – the woman is dead and Charles is married to one of his many side chicks. They’re trying to say that Harry is absorbed in his mother’s grievances, when really, he’s a man who is simply close to his mother’s family. He wants to be able to freely visit with all sides of his family. As for “Harry should have stayed at a palace instead of Althorp” – the whole point was that he was in stealth-mode for security reasons. The second he informed his father of his plans or asked for a room, Charles would have gone on another briefing spree about how he hates Harry and never wants him to come back. Also: do not underestimate how many of these hissy fits are about Charles’s anger at the Spencers.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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99 Responses to “Mail: Why didn’t Prince Harry stay in a palace rather than Althorp last week?”

  1. equality says:

    “Princess Diana was poorly treated by Charles in some respects; in others, though, she very much gave as good as she got.” In other words, you are supposed to take it from the royalty and not retaliate in any way? And yet, this is what they praise Kate for in her and Will’s pillow fights.

    • Jay says:

      That’s exactly the line that stood out to me, @equality! This is exactly the justification used in talking about the Wales’ fights. It’s eerie.

    • DK says:

      Yep, another way of phrasing this is “Diana was poorly treated by Charles in all respects; occasionally she retaliated in kind.”

      Also, while this writer is shocked that Harry didn’t visit his father-who-is-still-receiving-cancer-treatment during Harry’s quick trip to attend his uncle’s funeral, did it occur to her that his father was very famously on vacation in Scotland, which is not even the same country?

      • BeanieBean says:

        The father who, when his son flew halfway across the world to see him after his initial announcement, said sor-ry! got the helicopter waiting! make it quick!? That one? Stick with the Spencers, Harry’s got it right.

      • equality says:

        And didn’t all the BM say that the idea was to talk about H&M at Balmoral, and they weren’t invited.

    • LRB says:

      Do pillow fights give you new scars around your eye? Just asking for a friend !!

  2. Lolo86lf says:

    The Mail Column article is vile and disgusting. The way they paint Harry as being resentful and arrogant, and dismissive of his father and brother who want to make amends with him and whose doors are always open for Harry. I was ready to throw up.

    • Carmen says:

      “Prince Harry is not offering any kind of olive branch; he’s doubling down.”

      Yay Harry!

    • Noor says:

      It is Sarah Vine’s trademark to be vile and disgusting.
      Journalistic license enables Sarah Vine to write in her article that ,
      “But now Prince William is being punished, too (along with Kate) for their decision to put duty ahead of anything else.”
      Her viewpoints are so distorted and far from reflecting reality on the ground

      • BeanieBean says:

        Duty? William wouldn’t know duty if it smacked him in the face. As for Kate, how is she being punished? Did she cause her own cancer or something?

    • Grace says:

      “he only has to give them 30 days notice if he wants temporary royal protection, which is judged on a case by case basis”.

      He’s the king’s son and a worldwide known figure. This is not a case by case situation. This is his BAD DAD being revengeful.

  3. Harla says:

    Plus, the last couple of times that Harry requested a room from Charles, there were surprisingly, no rooms available. Harry knows this and isn’t willing to play that game any longer.

    • Inge says:

      Remember that his room was turned into a closet for Camilla?

      • Steph says:

        That part always intrigued me. I forgot which house it was in (Clarence?) but does Charles really have any houses so small that he needs to convert his youngest son’s room into a closet for his wife? He really not have an unoccupied room to use for that?!

      • Gabby says:

        And not only that but it’s a closet for what must be 300 of the same hideous zipper front dress.

    • Jais says:

      Also, it wa at wales in the security court case, that he has requested security multiple times, doing the whole 28 days in advance thing, and still been denied.

    • PC says:

      The last time Harry was there Charles didn’t have time to see him. Harry is tired of their games.

      • Kingston says:

        Prince Harry has never “requested a room” from the windsors. When are folks gonna refuse to allow themselves to be bamboozled by the RF & their spox in te shitmedia?

        When are ordinary gossipers gonna come to the realization that the rF are a dangerous bunch & that the Sussexes life has a permanent sword dangling over them?

        Harry knows that the linger he & his nuclear family stay away from the institution’s control and indeed, the more successful they become. The more dangerous the RF becomes to the life of the Sussexes.

        This is not a game.

        Prince Harry will not allow himself to eat from the RF or sleep in their clutches, which wd only expose himself to their danger.

        I repeat: the RF institition is a clear & present danger to the Sussxes.

    • Hypocrisy says:

      Exactly! If Prince Harry had requested a room it would have either been rescinded at the last minute or leaked to fed to the rabid tabloid rags. The articles are becoming completely unhinged and alarming in their desperation for access to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.. everything in the Monarchy is centered around H&M I firmly believe chucky, Peggy and their wives are obsessed with trying to replicate the magic and have failed now for five years.

  4. Wagiman says:

    They need to make their minds up. 90% of the time tampon is briefing that he’s not welcome, he asked in the past (supposedly, grain of salt territory) and they briefed the fail they said no.

    What is it fail?

    But pray tell? What DUTY is egg and bones putting before anything? I mean, please explain?

  5. Tessa says:

    Diana gave as good as she got says the writer
    More put downs of diana for complaining about her husband being involved with someone else. Who wouldn’t complain. And Diana was a teenager when Charles dated and proposed to her.

  6. Brassy Rebel says:

    “You may well ask, why shouldn’t Prince Harry stay with his uncle?” Still waiting for an answer. It’s a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem of being abused every single time he informs his father of his plans. Harry has noticed that his Spencer family doesn’t leak. And that they love him and respect his wishes.

    • SarahCS says:

      Even if you take out all the other context, it was a Spencer family funeral so of course it made more sense to stay with them.

      • Becks1 says:

        Right? Why would he stay in London at a royal palace when the funeral wasn’t in London? Of course he stayed at Althorp.

      • Berkeleyfarm says:

        @Becks1, the funeral was close to Sandringham, but as so many have noted, Harry’s been turned down multiple times (and probably doesn’t want to go through that bs again) and also knows the palaces leak like sieves.

        Better to stay with a family member (at Althorp he could also visit his mum) or a top flight hotel who knows how to be discreet about their VIP guests.

      • Christine says:

        Especially since the funeral was so close to the day his Mother died! It makes all of the sense in the world that he wanted to be at Althorp.

      • Kingston says:

        This response is for @Berkeleyfarm says:
        “Harry’s been turned down multiple times…………” < this is hilarious. Surely you dont believe it?

        It baffles me that normal people insist in believing the british-stochastic-terrorists-masquerading-as-journalists when they propagate the lie that H has EVAH! requested lodging from the Institution or from his pa.

        Its as if folks do not fully grasp the extent of the CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER posed by the british royal institution to H&M and their family. No one, in the 1000-year-long existence of this cult/institution, has ever thwarted it and lived to tell the tale.

        H has already said, out of his very own mouth, that they were forbidden to leave. They were told they could not leave. Imagine, a free and independent American citizen being told she could not leave a foreign institution unless she left without her husband, Not because they were loved and wd be missed, but because the institution would not tolerate it. And so they had to flee in the night, leaving all their belongings back in frogmore. They subsequently were able to retrieve their belongings between 2020 and 2022………recall that in the Netflix docu we saw images of them with their packed belongings around them.

        The PUBLICLY civilized behaviour on the part of the RF continued during the period when it still held out hope that H&M wd fail and would need to beg for a return. Also, this is the 21st century so the RF couldnt just send their mercenaries after H&M…….not with the eyes of the world looking intensely at this international development and bringing up the Diana "solution" (which had worked out so conveniently for the then heir apparent, in particular) and making comparisons

        So………….No. Prince Harry will never eat from the institution or allow himself to be unconscious while in their clutches. What wd stop them from telling the world that H fell ill and had to remain in their clutches to "recuperate" before he can fly back to his wife and kids…………………

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      Like, it’s not hard to understand why Harry didn’t want to stay at a palace.

      lol. The tries are so funny.

      Love that the RR’s can’t resort/default to…Harry had to stay at a hotel-he’s homeless.lol

      Harry has never been homeless in the UK. He may not longer own his own home there. He’s never been homeless in the UK. He & Meghan, have many homes that welcome them.

  7. Tessa says:

    Harry can stay wherever he wants after papa evicted him and his family

  8. Inge says:

    Because he wanted to stay with his loving family.

  9. girl_ninja says:

    “Why didn’t Prince Harry stay in a palace rather than Althorp last week?”

    So, he doesn’t get murdered and/or kidnapped. And I am not being hyperbolic.

    Seeing how selfish Charles is and how jealous and envious Will is of Harry, he isn’t safe with those people. And seeing the way the press conspires destroy Harry and Meghan AND their children for profit and to cozy up to the royals shows they have no allies there either. Just like Diana.

  10. s808 says:

    They’re so mad he was able to move through the country without their knowledge or input. I’m sure it’s a hassle for H but steal mode seems to be the way to go.

    • Tina says:

      Stealth mode is for sure the way to go. I get why security requests are necessary for certain events but I don’t think he can rely on the security they provide him plus they will leak everything. I think a big reason they are so mad as they see this is how he is likely going to do certain things in the future.

  11. sunnyside up says:

    “And now Prince William is being punished to” but, Prince William has an incandescent hate for his brother and doesn’t want to talk to him.

  12. Inge says:

    But now Prince William is being punished, too (along with Kate) for their decision to put duty ahead of anything else. – the only thing William puts ahead of anything else is himself.

    For Kate I think it’s William and the kids

    Neither are dutiful.

  13. Mrs. Smith says:

    My money on why he doesn’t stay in a palace is because he doesn’t want to get murdered in his sleep.

    • Beverley says:

      Say it again for those rota who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge this legitimate concern.

      • Kingston says:

        @Beverley Thanbk! You!

        I’m alarmed that so many gossipers seem to think this is a game of one-up-man-ship.

        Harry is protecting his very life, literally, in keeping his plans close to his chest and allowing NO ONE from britain whom he doesnt trust, to get a heads-up.

  14. Eurydice says:

    Omg, they are so tiresome. Harry didn’t cure cancer nor did he wipe out a small country, he just went to his uncle’s funeral.

  15. Maxine Branch says:

    Deeply admire this courageous young man for fighting for himself and his family. Happy he stayed with the Spenser’s.

  16. TheOriginalMia says:

    Harry stayed with family. You know the people who don’t regularly sell you out to the tabloids in exchange for favorable press. I know that concept is hard for the Mail to comprehend. This is how I know William wasn’t there. He would have sold Harry out while they were in church.

    • booboocita says:

      Right? Huevo would have texted the tabloids the instant he saw Harry anywhere near the chapel where the funeral took place. The fact that the funeral service concluded with nary a photographer or “reporter” in sight tells me Huevo was nowhere near that service.

    • L4Frimaire says:

      Totally believe this. In Scobie’s book, during Harry’s Sandringham summit, he said Williams people were texting the press while negotiations were happening in real time. He totally would have informed someone during the service he was there.

  17. Wls198 says:

    The papers can call her Kate but Harry and Meghan are being disrespectful by not calling her Catherine. The end.

  18. jay says:

    The rota are mad about losing access – it’s clear that the Earl of Spencer is not briefing the press about Harry’s movements ahead of time, nor is he revealing private conversations about Harry or his plans. He takes his nephew’s safety seriously, but also he doesn’t have an invisible contract to fulfill with the tabloids.

  19. Agnes says:

    “She did not give as good as she got – the woman is dead and Charles is married to one of his many side chicks.” Amen! Sarah Vine just lost a few more inches of neck for this disgusting piece. The Rota is such a perfect reflection of the end-stage monarchy: hysterical, petulant, malevolent.

    • Joy says:

      “Sarah Vine just lost a few more inches of neck for this disgusting piece” and considering her head probably sits right at T1 she doesn’t have any neck even to spare lol!

  20. Jais says:

    Huh? William’s being punished by Harry for putting duty first? So duty means planting negative stories about Harry’s family in the tabloid press? Bc that’s what happened. Duty means sending Knauf with doctored emails to the courts to try and get Meghan to lose her case against the DM? Duty means planting a fake crying story and silently sitting back while it demolishes one person’s rep while bolstering another’s? And don’t even get me started on Diana. Finding a teenager to wed and terrorize.

  21. Elaine says:

    “Gave as good as she got” used to be the reason domestic violence cases would be dismissed. Abused women, casts as the villian, when they were the victims.

    Heck of a wording to choose to describe a dead woman.

  22. aquarius64 says:

    The Spencer name coming back on this whole saga is irksome to Charles because it reminds everyone he mistreated Diana and Camilla benefited from it by becoming queen consort. William and Kate being punished how? KP must know people still have negative opinions of them.

    • Lau says:

      Charles doesn’t like to be reminded that he treated his first wife and his own children like dirt. It doesn’t go well with the benevolent grandpa and grandma image he’s trying to set for Camilla and himself.

      • LRB says:

        I think Charles is a very benevolent grandpa to Camilla’s grandchildren… I believe they all have multi million pound trust funds. Is the same ( but much more generous) true for Archie and Lilibet? Probably not.

  23. Proud Mary says:

    Even if these tabloid trash like Vine don’t see the Sussexes, the mere fact of one of them having visited that island, is enough to leave them breathless. So desperate and pathetic. When was the last time Sarah the Vice wrote about one of the leftovers? Her numerous plastic surgeries is just not enough to erase what a gorgon she is.

  24. Lau says:

    What would be really funny would be for Harry and his team to organize at least one ribbon-cutting ceremony for something but like in the US. I think the British media would collectively lose what’s left of their sanity and that would just be great.

  25. Amy Bee says:

    But Harry has always been close to the Spencer’s and I have no doubt that his issues with the Royal Family has made that relationship even closer. There was no way that he could have stayed at a Palace because if he had it would have been leaked to the press.

  26. wolfmomma says:

    Harry is showing his respect for the Spencer’s.

    Show up to the funeral as he clearly wanted to do. Stay with the family and spend some time with them without fanfare.

    Harry is a class act and adept now at handling the rageoholics in his family who spew to the ugly tabloids in order to put his life at risk.

    Proud for him !

  27. Pebbles says:

    For all we know Harry did call his dad about his visit but his dumb daddy DOESN’T TAKE HIS CALLS! Or he has to go through some leaking ass courtier who will put all his business and accommodations on every front page after calling in all the rota for a press briefing of all the idiotic headlines they want in the media.

    Charles is a bad father. A lackluster king. And a grandfather only when convenient. Of course Harry would choose his Spencer relatives who behave like family. I couldn’t imagine dealing with the Windsors as family. What a burden.

  28. aquarius64 says:

    Ton foil tiara: what if the punishment for William and Kate is no closeness to the Spencers? What if the Spencers don’t like Kate because they see her as a gold digger born to a social climbing family, the Middletons? You don’t hear reports of Kate being close to Diana’s family; they were not at the christenings of the Wales kids. In Spare Meghan was offered the Spencer Tiara for the wedding and in the Oprah interview Meghan said Harry’s aunts helped her get therapy. That had to stick in Kate’s craw.

  29. L4Frimaire says:

    So basically they’re pissed Harry went to a Spencer family funeral and stayed with his Spencer relative who lives on the property his Spencer mother’s grave is located? This has nothing to do with the Windsor’s and Harry wasn’t in the mood for their drama, hence not telling them. Why would he stay in some empty palace without security when his purpose was a maternal family funeral? They took his UK home and staying in some dank room being reported on to Charles is not a viable alternative.

  30. B says:

    Charles took Harry’s home, stripped him of his security and leaks whenever Harry is returning so the press make the environment nice and toxic. Lol but Charles wants it made clear the door is always open for Harry.

  31. QuiteContrary says:

    Are we supposed to take Vine seriously when she writes this line of utter nonsense? “now Prince William is being punished, too (along with Kate) for their decision to put duty ahead of anything else.”

    I mean, LOLOLOLOLOL. Come on, Sarah.

  32. Chrissie T says:

    One of the great joys of being a grown up, especially when you start earning your own money is getting to come and go as you please and when going home, to decide with whom you stay. Sarah Vine and the rest need to get a grip. Harry should have the same rights as the rest of us. He does not need to justify what he’s doing to Charles and William and if they are snubbed that really makes them look quite pathetic.

  33. HuffnPuff says:

    Harry didn’t want to turn the funeral into a media circus. He and the Spencers are well aware of how this works. It makes perfect sense for him to have stayed at Althorp. It required less traveling around that way and allowed him to stay hidden. We all know what would have happened if he stayed at a palace. As for “snubbing his father”, the man is still on holiday in Scotland. That’s not right around the corner from Althorp. I like how she rubbed in the “still receiving cancer treatment” too. Is he? We have no idea actually. He could be treating this with herbs for all we know. How does these tabloid writers sleep at night? These are real people they are making up stuff about.

  34. Maddie says:

    Can anyone believe that after all these years the British media still talks about Harry every single day? This man and his family live rent free in their heads. They live a very quiet life in California but his family in England and the media invent new stories everyday! It’s crazy to me!

  35. bisynaptic says:

    Sarah Vile says what, now?

  36. Sally says:

    If they ever strip Harry of his titles I hope he takes on his mother’s maiden name. ‘Harry Spencer’ will be perfect

    • sunnyside up says:

      They can’t take away the Prince and it would take an act of Parliament to take away the late Queen’s wedding gift. I don’t think they dare, It would look too much like racism, they would have to take Andrew’s titles away as well, he is far less popular than Harry.

  37. Maxine Branch says:

    Another distraction piece for the 45M£ Harry’s birth family recieved. Follow the money and palace scandals

  38. Peanut Butter says:

    With all of the interesting things in this world and the very real problems, along with all of the time that’s passed since the Sussexit, why do they care where he stays? It’s not even mildly entertaining.

  39. Murphy says:

    “The King has made it clear that his door is always open to his youngest son. ”

    …when did he do that?

  40. Kathalea says:

    Did they invite him?
    Should he have asked, only to get betrayed and turned down?
    Who wants to stay in a rats nest, ANYWAYS?

  41. Saucy&Sassy says:

    Another day and another rant in print by the bm. What I find the most interesting about this incessant smearing and lying about H&M is that each time it gives the Sussexes another reason to stay away from the UK. Unless they have appropriate security. Are we sure the bm want them back in the UK? Their playbook tends to tell me otherwise.

    I’m happy for Harry and the Spencers that they got to spend time together. I’d like to think that Harry got to see all of his cousins.

  42. Lavendel says:

    In my opinion, this woman’s article is factually insubstantial. It’s all about excitement, drama and clicks in the minds of these scribblers. These people are weird…

  43. Mina_Esq says:

    In other words, how dare he give this exclusive to People? He effectively prevented the British press from inventing a narrative about Harry having asked BRF for accommodations and being denied and humiliated. People took away at least a week’s worth of toxic storylines from the British press.

  44. Eowyn says:

    Imagine burying your husband, family showing up for you, including a nephew who literally flew in under the radar, and it turning into this.

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