In 2014, when Prince Henry (London, 39 years old) founded the Invictus Games, a sporting event in which soldiers wounded in combat participate that arose from his experience in Afghanistan, nothing could make him predict how much things would change for him. , and for his family, in just a decade. In all likelihood, he could not have imagined that the commemoration of the 10 years of these games – a very royal and with few complications a priori: for charitable, for patriotic, for safe and for white—it would become a fight of appearances in which the Duke of Sussex would be at the center.
Since Henry of England landed in London on May 7, all eyes have been on him. He went alone, without his wife, Meghan Markle, and his two children Archie and Lilibet, who preferred to stay in California, where the family has resided since 2020. Shortly after he set foot on British soil, it was already known that he would not take advantage of this trip to meet with his father, King Charles III, who at 75 years old is undergoing cancer treatment and whom he has only seen once since the monarch made public the news of his illness at the beginning of February. The cause, according to a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex and reported by British media such as the Daily Mail either The Telegraph, is the king’s “busy” schedule in the days when his youngest son is in the city of London. Even if they are only a few kilometers apart.
It seems that the king’s busy schedule has not prevented him from granting an honor to his other son, Prince William. Precisely, during the short visit of his youngest son, Charles III decided to appoint the heir to the throne as colonel-in-chief of the old regiment, as announced by Buckingham Palace on May 7. This announcement is not trivial, both for the moment in which it occurs and for everything it means: the appointment is a passing of witness, since the monarch himself held that position for 31 years, when he was still Prince of Wales and, Initially, the position was intended for Enrique, who was in that regiment until 2014. However, with the Duke of Sussex’s decision to leave the royal family and head to the United States in 2020, he also resigned from carrying out official duties. and house representation positions. He Daily Mail titled the article explaining this move by Buckingham: “Timing is everything”. And the media in general talked about this disregard for Enrique.
That is why a great little gesture from the Spencers has also attracted media attention. Yesterday, May 8, a commemorative mass for the Invictus Games took place at St Paul’s Cathedral, where Prince Henry, as host, was warmly received by those who gathered at the doors. Around a thousand people attended this event, including representatives of all the nations participating in the Invictus, as well as other key figures in the prince’s life.
These are the lawyer David Sherbourne, who represents him in his battle against the British tabloids; the former Welsh Guards officer Mark Dyer, guardian of the princes during their childhood and adolescence, and the person who protected and cared for them after the premature death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997 and whom Enrique considers a second father ( in addition to being the godfather of his son Archie); the Duke of Sussex’s former private secretary, Ed Lane Fox; or the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. But those who drew the most attention were the Spencers, that is, Diana of Wales’s brothers, Earl Spencer and Lady Jane Fellowes, to whom Prince Henry greeted in a very affectionate way and devoted much of his attention throughout the ceremony. . Also there were his cousins George McCorquodale, Ned Spencer and Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp. No sign of the Windsors.
His paternal family was just over four kilometers away. And they were also seen. Buckingham decided that that same afternoon the garden party would be held at the palace, a tradition that dates back to the time of Queen Victoria, in the second half of the 19th century, in which it is estimated that about 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 slices of sandwiches and the same number of cakes, and where the kings of England act as hosts. Carlos and Camilla presided over this event for the second consecutive year (the first was held last year, just three days before the coronation), now that the king has resumed his public events after undergoing treatment for his illness. If the Spencers were a block in San Pablo, Buckingham has been the strategic center of the Windsors: the monarch and his wife have been accompanied by other relatives, such as the Dukes of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and the Dukes of Gloucester. Prince William was absent from this tradition, which Elizabeth II loved, because that same morning he attended an event in Windsor.
Prince Henry and his father saw each other for the last time on February 6 at Clarence House, the residence where the monarch spends the night when he is in London and which once belonged to his grandmother, the queen mother. He did so a few hours after Buckingham Palace announced the king’s illness, but the meeting between them barely lasted just over half an hour. “I’m grateful to have been able to get on a plane and go see him and spend time with him,” he said 10 days later in an interview for the program Good Morning America from ABC. She also promised that she would visit him in the near future, but that near future, for now, will have to wait a little longer. In addition, the experts consulted by the British media also rule out a meeting between Enrique, his older brother, Prince William, and his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, who is also receiving treatment for the cancer that she announced that she suffered from. last March 22.
After this two-day visit to what has been his home for decades, Enrique is scheduled to fly to Nigeria on Thursday on a trip that will also focus on the Invictus Games. There he will be accompanied by his wife, Meghan Markle. It was already an open secret, but this visit has confirmed the enormous distance between Enrique and his paternal family.
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