Well, this is just so sad.
The Royal family has tried hard to dismiss the myriad news stories about rifts between family members over the past year or so. But two of the prominent family members suddenly saying they wanted to pull the ripcord and parachute out of the family business kind of flies in the face of those denials.
We still don’t know which feud stories are the truth leaking out and which are simply insidious rumors. But we can say pretty confidently not all that glitters behind the windows of Buckingham Palace is gold these days.
Now we are getting the saddest detail we’ve heard yet amid all this Royal chaos: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s son Archie Harrison has barely met his cousins!
Related: Meghan ‘Had To Escape’ From The ‘Toxic’ Royal Family Environment?
In the middle of story about the denial of a fight between Harry and Prince William at a polo match last year, DailyMail.com reported Archie had only ever met George, Charlotte, and Louis “once or twice,” including their well-documented first meeting at that polo match only a month after Baby Sussex had been born.
They pointed out Will and Kate Middleton visited Harry and Meghan in Frogmore Cottage upon news of the birth, leaving their children at home. And after that, despite living just 20 miles away in London the families stayed at such an arm’s length that the cousins were basically never in the same room.
This was all rather offhandedly thrown out in the publication this week, but the whereabouts of the Royal family are pretty well scrutinized, and as near as any other outlet can discern, it’s correct.
And now Archie is in Canada, so the cousins will spend even less time together — if any at all. How sad indeed!
ET got hold of Royal expert Katie Nicholl, who gave her take on the revelation:
“Well, look, we know there have clearly been a lot of family tensions, rifts, fallouts behind the scenes. I think throughout all of this, Kate has tried very much to be the peacemaker. Remember that she and Harry were at one point incredibly close. She, Harry, and William were a very special trio and I think she’s very keen to try and see that rift closed up. And at some point down the future, there will be a closeness between the four of them, if not for themselves, for the royal cousins because it’s emerged that… the Cambridge children have actually only met Archie a handful of times. I suppose that’s down to the Sussexes being in Windsor, the Cambridges being in London.”
Come on though! They’re family! And it’s not the other side of the world! Like, say, in the way CANADA is! But Nicholl remains optimistic:
“But of course with the Sussexes now spending a good chunk of the year overseas, you know, you have to wonder, how close is that relationship going to be between the royal cousins? Harry grew up very close to his cousins. It was always his intention for his children to be close to William’s children. And I think everyone’s hoping that they can move on from this difficult period, put the warring behind them and actually allow for the royal cousins when they are together at least in the same country, to actually get to spend some quality time together.”
We certainly hope she’s right. But we have to point out now once again, there is at least one source claiming Harry and Meghan knew from the month Archie was born they were going to “push the nuclear button” and leave. That means they also knew how hard it would be for the children to spend any time together once they made that move — and Meghan kept them apart anyway? Or maybe because she knew??
What do YOU think of this sad state of family affairs?
[Image via Dutch Press Photo/WENN/Avalon.]
