Huge Royal Snubs That Caused A Stir
Snubs, slights, and straight-up slaps in the face: nobody does family feuding quite like the royals, and the last few months have given us some of their finest moments.
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00:00Snubs, slights, and straight-up slaps in the face. Nobody does family feuding quite like
00:06the royals, and the last few months have given us some of their finest moments.
00:11In his first Christmas speech as monarch, King Charles honored his late mother, Queen
00:15Elizabeth II, addressed Britain's cost-of-living crisis, and celebrated the work of the Prince
00:20and Princess of Wales. The king even highlighted the importance of community spirit.
00:24We see it in our health and social care professionals, our teachers, and indeed all those working
00:31in public service."
00:32However, what the king didn't do was mention Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, or their two
00:38children, which led royal fans to wonder if Charles was sending a not-so-subtle message.
00:42The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's absence from the king's Christmas address seemed doubly
00:46suspicious considering its close timing to the release date of Prince Harry's memoir.
00:51Official reports had already suggested that Charles was angered by revelations made in
00:54Harry's book, so it's not a stretch to wonder if the king decided to eliminate the Sussexes
00:59from his Christmas wishes. Whether he meant to or not, Charles' words caused a bit of
01:03a furor and only furthered rumors of a royal feud.
01:06The royal family traditionally celebrates Christmas at Sandringham, their country estate
01:10in Norfolk, England. However, following Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022, many wondered if
01:16the royals would carry on the tradition. In December of that year, it was revealed that,
01:20sure enough, King Charles planned to spend the holiday season at the estate with the
01:23rest of the family. However, it also seemed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would
01:27be missing from the festivities. While the new monarch had decided to continue his late
01:31mother's tradition, Meghan and Harry reportedly spent the holiday at home in California.
01:36Having moved to the United States, it's perhaps understandable that the Duke and Duchess wouldn't
01:40be in attendance at Sandringham for Christmas every year. After all, a transatlantic flight
01:45with two young children in tow is likely exhausting. Still, many royal fans appeared to see the
01:50couple's absence as a snub, with some wondering if Harry and Meghan had willingly turned down
01:54an invitation from the king to reunite with the rest of the clan.
01:58Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, contains an array of shocking stories about members of
02:02the royal family, revealing everything from alleged personal conversations with Prince
02:06William to supposed text messages sent by Kate Middleton. But one thing the prince seemingly
02:11didn't do in the book was thank several of his closest family members in the acknowledgment
02:15section, leading the general public to wonder if this might be an intentional snub.
02:20In Spare, Prince Harry writes,
02:21"'Above all, my deepest and adoringest thanks to Archie and Lily for letting Papa go off
02:25to read and think and reflect, and to my mother-in-law, and to my incredible wife, for too many millions
02:30of gifts and sacrifices, great and small, to ever enumerate.'"
02:34He also found time to thank the likes of Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Chris Martin, as
02:39well as Princess Diana's siblings, while failing to even mention his late grandmother, Queen
02:43Elizabeth, his father, King Charles, or his brother, Prince William.
02:47Boom.
02:49While these admissions may seem strange, they perhaps highlight Harry's reportedly strenuous
02:53relationship with the rest of his family. It probably didn't help that many of them
02:57don't come off too well in the book itself, either.
03:00The late queen's husband, Prince Philip, passed away on April 9th, 2021. His funeral took
03:05place at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 17th. The royal family gathered for
03:10the somber occasion, with Prince Harry flying back from California to pay tribute to his
03:14grandfather. However, according to the Daily Mail, Harry wasn't exactly welcomed back into
03:19the fold during the service.
03:21The tabloid noted that Harry was seen speaking with his brother, Prince William, and Kate
03:24Middleton, but Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Sophie, the then-Countess of Wessex, apparently
03:29stayed away from Harry altogether.
03:32Prince Harry himself has since opened up about Philip's funeral, and it certainly doesn't
03:36sound as if it was easy for the Duke of Sussex to reunite with members of his family. In
03:40May 2021, Harry told the Associated Press,
03:43"...I was worried about it. I was afraid."
03:46Harry even turned to lessons he'd learned during therapy to deal with the anxiety he
03:49felt about the situation, saying,
03:51"...it definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds."
03:55After a pretty public snub at Philip's funeral, it's perhaps unsurprising that Prince Harry
03:59didn't return for a memorial service honoring his late grandfather, which took place in
04:03March 2022.
04:06King Charles likely thought that his coronation weekend would be a joyous affair. However,
04:10Charles faced multiple knockbacks during the planning stages of the event, with many big
04:14stars allegedly refusing to perform at the coronation concert. Huge British stars like
04:19Elton John, Adele, Harry Styles, and Robbie Williams all reportedly turned down the chance
04:23to take part in the event. In an interview with Rolling Stone, music publicist Simon
04:27Jones theorized why so many celebs might have refused to appear in front of the king. He
04:32said,
04:33"...the royal family has faced a number of PR disasters in recent times, and anyone performing
04:37at the show would have to consider whether there would be a backlash from appearing amongst
04:41their fans."
04:42After being reportedly snubbed by a number of artists, the coronation planners managed
04:46to land boy band Take That, singer Lionel Richie, and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for
04:50the event.
04:52Following the release of Prince Harry's memoir, royal family relations seemed to be worse
04:56than ever.
04:57"...I don't think that we can ever have peace with my family unless the truth is out there."
05:04Case in point, King Charles allegedly deciding to avoid Prince Harry, even when they were
05:08both in the same country. The Duke of Sussex flew over to England in March 2023 to attend
05:13a high court case against Associate Newspapers, the company that owns the Daily Mail, amongst
05:17other publications. According to sources cited by The Telegraph, King Charles' packed schedule
05:22meant that he was simply too busy to see his youngest son during the brief visit.
05:26Despite the fact that they were both in England, Charles apparently couldn't find a 10-minute
05:30slot for his younger son. The Telegraph also reported that Harry wouldn't be seeing
05:34his brother during the trip either, as he was away on vacation with his wife and three
05:37children.
05:38Meanwhile, King Charles was apparently staying at his Highgrove residence during Harry's
05:42visit, and was preparing to leave the country for an official royal visit to Germany. Still,
05:46it's hard not to see Charles' apparent decision as something of a snub.