‘I don’t trust anyone’: Prince William takes drastic action as new palace scandal explodes
William is ‘on edge’ as he demands: ‘We must protect the monarchy’
It’s now been over six months since his September reconciliation with his father King Charles, and despite mounting speculation that he and Meghan Markle could be set to lose their royal titles, Prince Harry appears to be showing no signs of giving up on his comeback plan.
And after reports last year of a campaign to ingratiate the Sussexes back into the hearts of the UK public, reportedly dubbed ‘Operation Bring Harry Back from the Cold’, the success of Harry and Meghan’s recent Australian quasi-royal tour has brought that same sentiment back into the limelight and, we’re told, back on the agenda for the Firm.
Last week, royal author Richard Eden further revealed that during their West Coast trip, Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, were even described to journalists covering their tour as ‘running the Montecito branch of the House of Windsor’.
Now with momentum seeming to be in full swing ahead of Harry’s much-anticipated return to the UK for the Invictus Games in July, we’re told a new palace scandal has exploded behind palace walls as our source claims Prince William is feeling so ‘undermined’ by Harry and Meghan’s latest moves, that he fears palace staff could be feeding information back to the Sussexes in Montecito.
An insider says, ‘William is at a point where he no longer trusts the majority of the palace staff because he knows most of them are loyal to his father and right now he and Charles are so divided when it comes to what to do about the Sussexes. He says they [Meghan and Harry are] using any scrap of information they can get their hands on to stay in Charles’ good books.
‘The Sussexes do get quite a steady flow of information, but they insist there’s nothing nefarious about it, they say they’re simply being kept in the loop about situations within the family that might affect them. But William says he’s being totally undermined, and he’s convinced Harry and Meghan are to blame.’
To make matters worse, Harry appears to have thrown himself back into the limelight and, over the past few weeks, appears to have ratchetted up his apparent bid to prove that he is still very much a member of the Royal Family.
Speaking to ITV during his visit to Ukraine last week, Harry admitted he didn’t recognise the phrase ‘not a working royal’, despite the initial statement from Buckingham Palace in 2020 describing him and Meghan as, ‘no longer working members of the Royal Family’.
Yet with speculation swirling that Harry is hoping Charles will reconsider the ‘half in, half out’ royal role that the late Queen had first rejected in 2020, the source says William, 43, remains adamant that his brother will not be allowed back into the fold and has taken the drastic action of ordering his staff and inner circle not to allow any information to be leaked that could be used by the Sussexes in any way.
The insider says, ‘He won’t stand by and let them come back for this half-in-half-out arrangement that so many people within the Firm now seem to be in favor of, including the King. And the fact that Harry is now getting his calls answered by people on the King’s staff has only fuelled William’s suspicion that information is being passed along behind the scenes.
‘For William, it’s completely unacceptable and everyone in his circle has been told in no uncertain terms they are not to release any information of any kind to anyone, and especially not to the Sussexes.
‘It’s left him feeling like he has to watch everything he says because he’s certain Meghan is ferreting out anything that could be useful and storing it for leverage to use against him and Kate down the line.’
Harry’s comments in Ukraine also come just days after spoke at an Australian event to raise awareness for mental health, during which he seemed to denounce the Royal Family or indeed the Firm on a larger scale, saying, ‘I was [feeling like], ‘I don’t want this job, I don’t want this role…It killed my mum and I was very much against it,’
And after a source recently told us how Harry’s candid reflections on how he felt following their mother Princess Diana’s tragic death in 1997 had only angered William, we’re now told he is adamant that the Sussexes remain in their place.
‘He believes he’s protecting his family and the institution, so the stakes are very high and he’s adamant that boundaries need to be clear and enforced,’ the insider says.
‘That sense of not being able to trust anyone is putting him more on edge than ever and just reinforcing his belief that there can be no compromise when it comes to Harry and Meghan’s status. He says any kind of half-in, half-out deal only opens the door to more of this behind the scenes manoeuvring from them.’
Meanwhile, there have been widespread reports that Charles and William continue to disagree on the subject of how much they interact with Harry on a personal level, and how much rope they offer to him longer term.
And the source says William is becoming increasingly ‘bitter’ that Harry and Meghan have become a point of contention between him and Charles.
The insider says, ‘It’s also deepening the rift between him and Charles, because he feels like the King is too willing to keep lines of communication open with Harry regardless of the consequences. He’s very bitter and blames Harry and Meghan for coming between him and his father, but he’s also refusing to back down.
‘William’s beyond angry that his concerns aren’t being taken seriously enough. William sees Charles taking a more measured approach and he interprets that as weakness.’
Behind-the-scenes, Kate remains a steady presence and reportedly a peace maker within the royal fold, and we’re told that she’s urging William to keep calm and carry on – and not alienate any royal staff in the process.
The source explains, ‘Kate has been trying to keep him grounded. She keeps reminding him not to push people away unnecessarily. But it’s a tough sell because in William’s view there’s just too much at stake to take any chances.
‘He’s convinced that he’s the only one willing to take a hard line, and that’s only got him more convinced that he needs to stay on high alert for whatever his brother and sister-in-law have in store next because he’s certain it will be diabolical if Meghan has her way.’
