On Saturday, in the wake of Prince Harry’s whirlwind ‘pseudo-royal tour’ and the reconciliation with his father, King Charles, I warned of the dangers to the monarchy of the return of his prodigal son. I lamented that the Prince and Princess of Boring, William and Kate, had decided to hide away from the public eye at such a critical time, even questioning the wisdom of Kate’s two dull visits to textile factories as Harry was adorably high-fiving disabled children at the Diana Awards, set up in honour of his mum.
Well, I’m now not just eating my words – but choking on them, after reading details of the Princess of Wales’s hectic itinerary for President Trump and First Lady Melania’s historic second State visit to Britain which starts today.
President Trump has said himself that he and Melania are ‘thrilled’ the Princess will be ‘front and centre’ during their visit. A Trump source added: ‘The inclusion of Princess Kate in so many events during the state visit is an honour.’
I now regret that I overlooked what a valuable asset Kate is to the Royal family and for that, I owe her an apology.
Given her high-profile role in the diplomatic proceedings, I am now astonished that mum-of-three Kate, who let’s not forget is still recovering from cancer, even managed to squeeze in those two textile factory visits, alongside the extensive preparations required for Trump’s visit.
I can only imagine how many hours are required to plan her outfits for the coming days – for she will certainly perfect the respectful, dazzling, dignified looks fit for a Presidential visit. How many trips did her hairdresser have to make to finesse a hair-do upon which to perch a priceless Windsor tiara?
When I wrote on Saturday, I was forgetting that when Kate puts on the glamour and the glitz, her presence is incomparable. She is still the shining jewel in the Royal crown, one of the most photographed women in the world with the enigmatic magic of Princess Diana.
Over the next two days, Kate has five royal engagements. First, she and William will greet the Trumps at Windsor Castle on Wednesday morning and formally introduce them to the King and Queen.
The Princess of Wales has a hectic itinerary for President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania’s historic second two-day State visit
King Charles and Camilla with President Trump and Melania during their first State Visit in 2019
Prince Harry play-fights using balloon swords with nine-year-old Gwen Foster, a WellChild Award recipient
Then a horse-drawn carriage procession through Windsor Great Park with the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, before lunch with the Trumps in the state dining room at Windsor. Afterwards, a viewing of artwork in the Royal Collection which contains paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael and Caravaggio – during which Kate’s degree in Art History will surely come in handy.
That night, a traditional white-tie State Banquet at which Kate is expected to appear, resplendent in a fabulous formal gown and all her bejewelled finery and priceless items – perhaps from the late Queen’s collection. There is no doubt the Press will write thousands of words about her diamonds and tiara.
The next morning Kate will join Melania in Frogmore Gardens to be shown the Scouts Squirrels programme, which has been designed to encourage four and five-year-olds to explore the outdoors, a subject close to Kate’s heart – she has revealed nature was her ‘sanctuary’ during her cancer recovery.
It is satisfying to see that media coverage of the Trump tour has already eclipsed Prince Harry’s visit, which I can now see for what it was: a desperate bid from the disgraced Prince to ingratiate himself back not just into his father’s good books, but also to remind us all of his inalienable Royal status as fifth-in-line to the throne. A status which has made him and his wife millions through their Netflix documentary and Harry’s own memoir Spare.
A deluded Harry claimed in a newspaper interview barely one day after he left Britain that ‘I have always loved the UK and I will always love the UK’, expressing his deepest desires for his wife Meghan and his children Archie and Lilibet to rediscover the country he was brought up in.
He said that after his whirlwind tour ‘he now feels a lot of support from British public’. That made me laugh out loud.
It’s now clear his four-day trip was nothing more than a desperate attempt to improve his approval ratings, which fell to just 27 per cent in May, following the BBC interview in which he claimed the King refused to speak to him. It was only slightly higher than his wife Meghan’s at 20 per cent.
And yet he had the gall to claim that throughout, ‘the focus really has to be on my dad’.
Kate and William visit the Natural History Museum’s new gardens in London earlier this month
Yep, that’ll be the dad who did not trust him with even a full hour of his time. Even then, it is reported that there was a third person present to protect the King from any mud-slinging, like his horrible past accusations of racism and unkindness towards Meghan.
Perhaps for all those he betrayed in his memoirs and Netflix series, the most egregious moment came from when Harry said, without a hint of contrition: ‘My conscience is clear.’ If you ask me, the dim-witted Harry clearly does not have a conscience.
He revealed in the interview afterwards that he has lived by his wife Meghan’s words of wisdom: ‘just stick to the truth.’ Harry wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him in the bum.
Harry added that he did not air his ‘dirty laundry in public’, it was instead about ‘accountability’. Spare me! It is unbelievable that he is still said to be holding out for an apology from his entire family.
Both hell and heaven will freeze over before that ever happens. Sources claim that when the sad day comes that King Charles is no longer with us and William is King, he will do everything in his power to have his malicious brother exiled from his court.
So, yes, I’m sorry for doubting you, Kate. But take consolation in the fact that while you and William are entertaining the American President and his First Lady, your greedy, grasping, self-pitying brother-in-law Harry is back in happy-clappy California with no proper job to speak of – except for feeding his organic chooks.
