PRINCE HARRY says it was “great” to see The Queen when he and wife Meghan made a flying visit to Windsor the other day.
Will this be the only insight he gives on the momentous meeting with his grandmother, or is he saving the juicy details as part of his “sing for your supper” Netflix deal?
Time will tell. But let’s just hope Her Majesty was recording the chat in case, once again, “recollections may vary”.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that while the Sussexes will have “no formal role” in the forthcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations, The Queen has invited them to join her for the traditional appearance on the palace balcony.
Hmmm. A family rapprochement behind closed doors is one thing, but one wonders whether the British public feels quite so forgiving towards this petulant pair?
If true, allowing them to take centre stage at such a momentous national occasion could prove a rare misstep for our monarch in 70 years on the throne.
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After all, since they first flounced off two years ago, Harry and Meghan have made little secret of their disdain for royal tradition and, embarrassingly, The Queen’s grandson is suing the Government for refusing to allow him to pay for Met Police protection when visiting these shores.
Feeling unsafe here was the excuse he used for not attending Prince Philip’s memorial yet, as we now know, he and wife Meghan have just managed to pull off a visit to one of the most famous women in the world without anyone even grabbing a grainy photo en route.
In other words, staying under the radar is easy if you behave in a low-key way.
Which brings me to their appointment of Barack Obama’s former bodyguard Christopher Sanchez, who has been shadowing their every move.
It could be sheer coincidence but, equally, a cynic might conclude that it is a deliberate attempt to place themselves on a par with an ex “leader of the free world”.
It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve created a “look at me” frisson at odds with their claim to want a “normal” life.
Remember that day at Wimbledon in 2019, when Meghan arrived to watch Serena Williams on Court One?
A spectator who was actually taking a selfie of himself, not her, was warned by her bodyguard that she was at the televised event viewed by millions in “a private capacity”.
Perhaps it was just over-zealous protection officers throwing their weight around but another ticked-off spectator pointed out that the Duchess of Cambridge had visited two days earlier “with not a shoulder tap in sight” from her security guys.
She understands that her royal status gets her top-notch seats to watch a Grand Slam tournament, and the trade-off is that she’ll get photographed.
But she also manages to pop to her local shops without being spotted.
And yesterday, a former head chef at London restaurant 45 Jermyn Street revealed: “We got celebrities in all the time.
“But for Harry and Meghan there was a real fuss. Half the restaurant was roped off so they could dine in peace.
“They came in together, just before they went public as a couple. But it was still unusual, 45 Jermyn is a discreet place to eat without doing that.”
As I’ve said before, plenty of genuine A-list celebrities go about their lives quietly and, therefore, largely unnoticed.
And plenty strut around while flanked by burly bodyguards, prompting everyone in the immediate vicinity to notice them and think: “Who’s that?”
In other words, the more noise you make, the more attention you attract.
When Harry and Meghan left the UK, they were at pains to point out that they wanted a “normal” and “private” life.
But pretty much everything they’ve done since has suggested they want anything but.
The choice of living in fame-obsessed LA, the private jets to A-list destinations and homes, the interview with Oprah, the open-top bus ride with James Corden, and now a trip back to Europe with a Netflix crew of 30 filming their every move.
Compare and contrast all that to the behaviour of one of The Queen’s other grandchildren, Zara Tindall, on a family day out last week.
She was competing at the Burnham Market horse trials in Norfolk, while husband Mike Tindall watched from the sidelines with their three kids climbing all over him.
Devoid of state-funded protection, they just blend in with the crowds, get on with their life and seem admirably content with their lot.
Harry and Meghan could easily do the same.
Timid Jamie hid his class at school
FIFTY Shades Of Grey’s Jamie Dornan says he was “shy, timid and didn’t have the game” at school, so wasn’t a hit with the girls.
“Every single girl I liked at school didn’t reciprocate my feelings,” he says.
Something tells me that they’re rather kicking themselves now.
It’s who dares sequins
ENGLAND and Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin caused quite a stir online when he posed for Arena Homme Plus magazine in a flared short suit while clutching a pink Prada handbag.
“Masculinity is about wearing the clothes on your back with confidence. So if you want to wear a skirt or a sarong that might divide opinion, but you are comfortable enough in your skin to do it regardless — that’s true masculinity,” says the 25-year-old.
Hear hear. Ditto Harry Styles strutting the Coachella stage in a sequinned jumpsuit.
Besides, though these current style icons may seem as if they’re fashion forward, it’s really nothing new.
David Bowie wore a dress, crocheted jumpsuits and full make-up back in the moustached, hairy-chested Seventies, when the mantra was very much “men should be men” and it didn’t do him any harm.
Hell, Freddie Mercury even managed a moustache, hairy chest and a frock.
So bravo Harry/Dominic et al, and all power to your sequinned elbow.
PASSENGERS flying Wizz Air from Tel Aviv in Israel at the weekend were diverted to Doncaster instead of Gatwick and had to fork out hundreds of pounds to get taxis home after being left stranded “in the middle of the night”.
Meanwhile, word reaches me that dozens of passengers flying back to the UK from Portugal last week couldn’t check in online because the same airline’s website was down.
Yet, despite being shown screenshots to prove it, staff at check-in insisted on every person paying 35 euros for a printed boarding pass before being allowed to board.
Perhaps Swizz Air might be more appropriate.
I’ve got nudes for you
MARKS & Spencer has dropped the shade “nude” on products ranging from lipstick to lingerie and tights.
The move is aimed at improving inclusivity and diversity and is designed to challenge assumptions that “nude” automatically represents a white person’s skin.
But does it though? After all, the colour “nude” has a meaning for everyone.
Instead of suggesting it’s a pejoratively exclusive description, why not simply number the different shades, from Nude 1 for the darkest brown skin down to Nude 35 (or whatever) for the palest pallors?
Prevent has to exclaim
THE sole purpose of “Prevent” is to be proactive in trying to deradicalise potential terrorists.
Yet, when the teacher of pupil Ali Harbi Ali noticed he’d become dead-eyed and “preoccupied with particular aspects of Islam”, she had a gut instinct that something was wrong and referred him to Prevent.
She was later told he wasn’t deemed a threat. He went on to stab Tory MP Sir David Amess to death.
On Monday, Channel 4’s Dispatches claimed that half of the terror attacks carried out in Britain in the past five years were committed by extremists who received mentoring via Prevent.
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No scheme can be foolproof but surely, at the very least, there should be an investigation into the thought process behind the catastrophic decision that Ali wasn’t a danger to anyone.
Because he clearly was and Sir David’s poor family are now paying the heavy price.
