After several rounds of ‘will they, won’t they,’ Prince Harry returned to the U.K. late last week with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
The trip included a visit with King Charles and Queen Camilla, but in the absence of a photo of the reunited fam or even an official statement on the meetup, the Sussexes return was met with very little fanfare. What’s more? Prince William and Princess Catherine had a very high-profile weekend with their own brood that upstaged any publicity Harry and Meghan may have otherwise received.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by celebrity reporter Rob Shuter, author of It Started With a Whisper, to discuss how Harry and Meghan lost the PR battle.
Harry and Meghan Return
Buckingham Palace confirmed the Sussexes met with the king and queen for the first time in four years on Friday at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, and that is the extent of what has been made public about the visit. Shuter believes that is almost certainly not what Markle, in particular, was hoping for when she made the trek across the pond.
“I don’t think for one minute she wanted to meet the king so that she could fix this family. I think it was a business decision… and she desperately wanted a photograph,” he theorized. “We know the world we live in. We know the world of social media. We want to see a picture of the king, of Meghan, of the children, of Harry, of everybody smiling. The palace said absolutely not. This is not a state visit. This is not even an official visit. This is a family visit, and so there are no photographs.”
In Shuter’s view, the palace did not allow the prince and Markle to use this visit for their own gain. “She wanted the king’s embrace, and if she got that, if she got that seal of approval… she would be able to monetize that. She would be able to use that to her advantage,” he explained.
“The palace was very smart on this one, they said, ‘Come and meet him. He’s an old man. He wants to meet the grandkids. He’s a father here. He’s not a king. He’s a grandfather here. He’s not a king. And because of all that… there will be no official photographer there. There will be no photographs leaked,'” Shuter noted. “A lot of us were frightened that Meghan would be able to manipulate the king, but I think, in this instance, nothing has changed.”
Had the Royal Family wanted to signal some kind of shift in the relationship or repair of the fracture that has existed since Harry and Meghan left for the United States, Shuter believes the get together would have been held at a different venue and had a different vibe.
“They would have done this not out in the country. This was at an estate hours outside London… It is owned by the Royal Family, it is not owned by the state. If they wanted to give a message that they are friends again, they would have had them visit them in Clarence House. They would have had them come to Buckingham Palace,” Shuter explained. “I don’t think they would have gone out on the balcony and waved to the crowd, but they would have had photographs taken. We would have had images of them arriving, smiling, leaving, and then afterwards they would have put out a statement saying how wonderful it was to see them again and to see the grandchildren. No statement, no photographs, nothing.”
Royally Upstaged
Instead, the weekend was dominated by photos of none other than Prince William and Princess Catherine, who engaged in some sweet PDA at a polo match on Friday before heading to Wimbledon with Prince George and Princess Charlotte on Sunday.
The Princess of Wales made a surprise appearance on the polo pitch to cheer on her husband, who was playing in a match for charity. The two later engaged in some rare public displays of affection – including a kiss! – after the prince’s team won.
Shuter believes this was all part of a plan to shift the focus away from the Sussexes. “I used to work for Princess Michael of Kent. I was her publicist here in America, so I’ve dealt with the British Royal Family. I’ve worked with their press office. They really are good at changing the narrative. They’re real experts at spin,” he explained.
That expertise, Shuter said, occasionally even calls for a change of plans. “[Princess Catherine] was not meant to go to this polo match. On the original schedule, Kate wasn’t on [it],” he noted. “So at the last minute, they said to Kate, you know, maybe you should put on a pretty dress and go and kiss your husband. She did it, and this is what everybody’s talking about… That’s how you win the story. That’s how you win the narrative.”
In that respect, he said royals aren’t all that different from celebrities. “I used to be a publicist before I was a reporter and a gossip columnist. One of my clients was Jessica Simpson. Jessica Simpson [and Nick Lachey]… had a very ugly breakup. On the day that his new album came out, Jessica dyed her hair red and she got all the press,” he recalled.
“She went out of her way to steal a story, and this is what the palace did on the day that they met,” Shuter continued. “And then the next day was Wimbledon… and we saw the Royal Family in the Royal Box too. This is how they win this argument, not by taking on the Sussexes, not by going after them, but by ignoring them.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Shuter by tuning in to episode 1,359 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.