Roya Nikkhah had a lengthy article in the Sunday Times. Nikkhah is one of the most recent “favorites” of both Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace, although I tend to associate her more with Prince William above the other royals. Nikkhah has gotten some very curious and Peg-specific exclusives in recent years, that’s all I’ll say. In any case, Roya’s palace sources were exceptionally chatty last week, and wouldn’t you know, it’s all about Prince Harry. The palace is scared sh-tless, as is the British media. Instead of just saying that, these people are whining and crying about the fact that they have no way to control Harry anymore and he’s doing real damage to them. Hahahahaha. Some highlights:

Exasperated sighs: Since leaving the royal fold, Harry has repeatedly claimed “the institution” refused to stand up for him and Meghan with the British press, a claim that induces exasperated sighs and rolling eyes in the royal households. It also prompts former aides who worked with the couple and who pushed their relationships with the media to the limit defending them to recall Elizabeth II’s phrase: “Some recollections may vary.”

Palace courtiers swear that Harry never asked about being hacked when he was a kid: But his claim last week that alleged phone hacking by MGN was “contained within the palace” left a senior former courtier who worked with William and Harry during that period scratching their head. “Did we keep things from him? No. At no point did it come up that the Mirror was doing it while I was there, it never came across our desk. I never had any conversations with either of the princes about ‘where are the Mirror getting those stories from?’”

How dare Harry sue the press when he’s gotten positive coverage!! The prince said he would feel it “an injustice” if phone hacking cannot be proved, but the former aide says: “It’s a means to get revenge on the tabloids and an opportunity to pursue that mission, win or lose. He won’t want to lose, but he will have had his chance to say ‘this is what it was like for me, my family, my girlfriend’. He said much of it in his book, but putting it in court adds an extra layer of credibility. Perhaps all those millions from his book and Netflix deal was to build a war chest to pursue the tabloids until the end. Of course he forgets he’s had a lot of positive coverage over the years. Like an actor, he only remembers the bad reviews.

Harry’s political comment: One barbed comment in Harry’s 55-page witness statement last week got Palace aides particularly hot under the collar, given the constitutional requirement for the royal family to be “above politics”. The fifth-in-line to the throne wrote: “Our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government, both of which I believe are at rock bottom.” Has the prince, who travelled the world for years representing the UK, so soon forgotten that Britain is also judged internationally by its royal family? To many, his comment was woefully misjudged, others saw it as unconstitutional. Either way, what must the royal family make of their unelected, exiled prince launching attacks on this country’s elected representatives?

Why are they so worried about what an “exiled prince” has to say?? A royal source says: “The Palace will find that extremely difficult and uncomfortable, because you can never fully separate yourself from the institution and it will have raised eyebrows on both sides of the park — at Westminster too — not least because it wasn’t necessary for the core of his case. But it only underlines the wisdom and importance of [Elizabeth II’s] decisions taken at Sandringham [the family summit in January 2020], that you cannot be half-in and half-out. Those decisions are now the royal family’s insurance — when one of its members continues to break with convention, they can point out that he is speaking as Harry Windsor, not as the Duke of Sussex, working member of the royal family representing the nation. Then, there is the deep irony of a member of the royal family talking about how the country is judged around the world, which is often by and through the royal family. It shows a deep misunderstanding by him.”

Harry is embarrassing Britain!! A source who knows Harry well, says: “I think he’s been sitting in the Californian sunshine for a long time, hanging out with James Corden [the actor and TV host] and has lost all the instincts on how to do this, how to conduct himself carefully, still as a member of the royal family. He’s lost the knack of what he can and can’t say and there is no one around him to say, ‘No, Harry, you can’t say that, take that bit out’. It’s embarrassing for him and for Britain, for a prince to be saying, ‘We’ve got a sh-t government’.”

Harry has shrugged off the monarchy’s “threats”: The reality is Harry cares little about any of this, because he knows there are no consequences to his actions and the monarchy has no more levers to pull. He has continued to shrug off raised royal eyebrows and veiled threats. The King might have booted his son out of Frogmore Cottage and relegated him to the third row at Westminster Abbey for his coronation behind Princess Anne’s plumed hat, a detail that a royal insider says prompted “much hilarity among the family about where the plume ended up and what it ended up obscuring”. But the Sussexes have kept hold of their titles and those of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, proving that however unconstitutional their words or deeds, the punishment is unlikely to be heavier than fiddling with seating plans for the occasional state occasion.

King Charles is exasperated: Those close to Charles, 74, say he is becoming increasingly exasperated. A source said: “The King brings Harry up every time I see him. I don’t think we’ve moved past sad and bewildered, but there’s a bit more frustration at his behaviour, because it just keeps going.”

They’re shocked that Harry is free: A former courtier says: “We would have been terrified to have a member of the royal family cross-examined on the stand, but Harry thinks ‘bring it on’.” A friend of Harry’s says: “He’s free from the shackles of that mentality. In Meghan he has found someone supportive of that stance and he’s emboldened by that. But the bigger picture is that he believes there are some very significant wrongs that need to be righted. It’s deeper than just wanting his day in court.”

How dare Harry go against the British media: A former courtier has another theory on why Harry is willing to endure the torment: “I think he is seeking inner peace and this becomes the target — he thinks if he can bring the media to heel, it will cure his pain. Sadly, I don’t think it will. He’s still defending his mother. Nothing will take that pain away.”

[From The Times]

“I never had any conversations with either of the princes about ‘where are the Mirror getting those stories from?’” Harry was a child and he already understood that his dogsh-t father was briefing the media about him. Why would he go to the courtiers who were briefing against him? Especially when he was under siege and didn’t know who to trust? As for the rest of it – the palace is shocked that they’re finding out after f–king around for so long. They’re shocked that Harry is, in fact, free to say whatever he wants, sue whoever he wants and criticize the British media’s stranglehold on the British government. The Windsors and the courtiers soothe themselves with their pettiness – oh, Harry was in the third row, what hilarity! – while basically admitting that the jig is up, they’ve done everything to threaten Harry, marginalize Harry and punish Harry and he still rises like a phoenix from the ashes.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.