So, Just How Screwed Are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Now?

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There was a glimmer of hope that Harry and Meghan may not now be completely cut off from the royal family Friday, when King Charles said, in his first televised address to the nation as king, that he loved them.

After speaking at some length about William and Kate’s new roles as Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles said: “I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.”

As olive branches go, this looks, at first sight, like a significant one, however the cold reality is that Charles III actually used his first few hours as monarch to demonstrate that he could and indeed would be ruthless in excluding them from the inner circle of the family if he chose to.

Although sources close to Charles have always insisted that he loves both his sons and would like nothing better than to heal the wounds with Harry and Meghan, the fact is that Harry and Meghan were subjected to a series of humiliations in the fraught 24 hours after the queen’s death.

The first note was struck when it was announced by Harry’s people that Harry and Meghan would both be making the journey to Balmoral, but then, after several hours delay, it was announced that Meghan would not be going after all.

What happened in the intervening period is now being hotly debated, but there is a significant body of opinion building that Meghan was told not to darken Balmoral’s door on the orders of William and Charles.

Indeed, the BBC’s royal correspondent came perilously close to saying as much when he saying, on air: “She might not be terribly warmly welcomed, to be perfectly candid about it.”

The reasons why Meghan would not have been “warmly welcomed” are not hard to fathom. In addition to the now two-year old allegations of racism she made against the palace, Meghan recently issued a veiled threat to publicize more royal secrets, telling The Cut magazine that she could “say anything” and had not signed a confidentiality agreement with the palace.

Given that the queen was almost certainly severely incapacitated (at a minimum) while this unseemly debate was raging, it could be argued that the banning of Meghan from Balmoral (if that is what happened) was Charles’ first act as king.

Given her threats to reveal secrets, the exclusion of Meghan from the family gathering at the queen’s death bed is unsurprising.

Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty

Hanging over everything is the imminent publication of Harry’s memoir, and what he might say, and who he might trash, in it. Ever since their bombshell Oprah interview, and other interviews since, the royals have kept the couple at arm’s length, concerned where any words said to them may end up being repeated.

What is much more alarming for the couple’s future prospects of retaining their position on the royal Christmas Card list is the way Harry was not included in the royal party of William, Edward, Sophie and Andrew—Andrew for god’s…