The Sussexes didn’t watch King Charles’ address to Congress

Back in 2023, in the lead up to King Charles’ coronation, the British and American media were obsessed with the gossip around Prince Harry and Meghan’s possible attendance. For MONTHS there was a back-and-forth between the Sussex camp and the palace about invitations and who was actually invited and whether Charles really wanted them there. At one point, some royal commentator admitted the obvious, which was that the palace was parlaying the global interest in all things Sussex to hype the coronation. I fear something similar happened this week, with Charles and Camilla’s US state visit. While Charles has had good moments, there’s been a suspicious amount of mainstream conversation about “why isn’t Charles visiting the Sussexes” and “what are the Sussexes doing during the state visit?” Well, wouldn’t you know, someone told Rob Shuter that the Sussexes refused to watch Charles’ address to Congress on Tuesday. Nice way to extend the one big positive moment for Charles, I guess.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not watch King Charles’s speech live — and insiders say they did not watch it later either. No livestream in Montecito. No replay behind closed doors. No private gesture of respect after the fact. They did not tune in. At all.

“They didn’t watch it. Not live, not later, not at all,” one insider says. “Once upon a time, that would have been unthinkable. Now it makes the point for them.”

And that point was clear: the distance is no longer symbolic. It is real. Harry and Meghan have also not spoken to King Charles while he is in the USA and, despite past efforts to repair the rupture, insiders say there are no plans for contact and no expectation of a meeting.

“There is no relationship right now,” one source says. “No calls. No messages. No outreach. No backchannel. It has gone completely cold.”

According to insiders, whatever fragile progress had once been made collapsed after Harry and Meghan’s recent Australia trip, which reignited palace tensions and hardened positions on both sides.

“That trip was the final break,” a source tells us. “The palace saw it as confirmation they are fully out. Harry and Meghan saw it as proof they no longer need the institution.”

That is now the divide — and it is wider than ever. Sources say Harry and Meghan no longer believe they need the King’s approval, the palace’s protection or the family’s blessing to move forward.

“They are done looking back,” one insider says. “They do not need Charles. They do not need the palace. They do not need permission. They’ve moved on.”

And insiders insist not watching the King was not an oversight. It was intentional.

“This was deliberate,” the source says. “Not watching was the message. The silence was the statement.”

[From Rob Shuter’s Substack]

If Harry and Meghan really did avoid watching Charles’ speech, it’s a real shame because Charles backed up Harry’s previous statements completely, especially about NATO, Ukraine and the need for stronger American leadership. There are so many people trying to make “Charles & Harry are on the outs again” happen, it’s like they didn’t actually listen to Charles’ speech themselves. Far from creating more distance from Harry, Charles sounded like his speech was cowritten BY Harry. As for the rest of it… I actually believe that Harry and Meghan know that they don’t need the palace nor do they need permission to do anything. I think they realized that five-plus years ago. Whether the palace understands that the Sussexes don’t need their permission is another thing altogether. In any case, Charles is certainly making some interesting moves these days.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.