King Charles Went ‘Directly Against’ Queen Elizabeth’s ‘Style’ With Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage Eviction
TL;DR:
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were told to vacate their U.K. residence, Frogmore Cottage, following Spare’s January 2023 release.
- The decision, according to a historian, doesn’t reflect a “confident monarchy.”
- King Charles is “going directly against” Queen Elizabeth II’s “conciliatory style.”
It’s a new era for the royal family, which King Charles III highlighted by having Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave Frogmore Cottage. A historian says the king made a “big mistake” by telling the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to vacate their U.K. residence. Not only does it go against Queen Elizabeth II’s “style” but the “optics” are “terrible.” Additionally, King Charles has “bigger fish to fry” with his upcoming coronation.
Historian says a ‘confident monarchy would have weathered the storm’ involving Harry, Meghan, and ‘Spare’
The royal family hasn’t publicly commented on Spare, Harry’s deeply personal memoir that debuted in January 2023. In its 400 pages, the 38-year-old makes accusations against certain relatives in between some rather cringe-worthy anecdotes.
However, it seems the royal family did respond privately just a day after the book’s Jan. 10 release. Harry and Meghan were reportedly informed they must vacate Frogmore Cottage on Jan. 11.
According to Dr. Tessa Dunlop, a historian and royal expert, it wasn’t a particularly shrewd move on King Charles’ part. “A broad-shouldered confident monarchy would have weathered the storm. With a coronation around the corner, the king has bigger fish to fry,” she said (via Mirror).
“Instead, by evicting the couple from the queen’s generous gift of Frogmore Cottage King Charles is going directly against the conciliatory style” of his late mother, Dunlop explained.
“Worse, he has conflated the problem of the Sussexes with that of Prince Andrew by asking the latter to relinquish his larger home, the Royal Lodge, and move into Frogmore Cottage,” she added. “Big mistake. The optics are terrible.”
Prince Harry’s ‘verbal hand grenades’ came from a position of ‘pain’
“Britain’s response to the news has, on the whole, been gleeful,” Dunlop continued, noting that “on one level the vitriol is understandable.”
“Prince Harry had just lobbed several verbal hand grenades at his family and the former institution to which he belonged,” she said. “But he did so from a position of weakness, on the outside, in pain and feeling side-lined.”
Harry’s memoir hit shelves in January 2023. However, in the lead-up to the best-seller’s release, the father of two appeared in various interviews discussing his fractured relationship with the royal family, namely King Charles and Prince William.
Nearly two months since Spare’s official release, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan confirmed they’ve “been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” (via Town & Country).
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s reaction to Frogmore Cottage eviction: ‘stunned’
According to Omid Scobie, a royal expert and co-author of Finding Freedom, losing their U.K. residence, complete with a certain “level of security” being on the Windsor Estate, left Harry and Meghan shocked.
“It’s news, sources tell me, that has left Harry and Meghan stunned,” Scobie wrote in a Yahoo News U.K. column. It also reportedly left “at least two” royal family members “‘appalled.’”
Harry and Meghan, Scobie explained, were told Frogmore Cottage’s “needed for someone else.” That particular “someone” is said to be Harry’s uncle, Prince Andrew, who has lived in the nearby Royal Lodge for the last 20 years.
