King Charles' cancer diagnosis brings Harry back to UK as announcement rocks royals
Historian and author Gareth Russell reacts to Harry visiting King Charles after cancer diagnosis and what it means for the Royal Family on 'The Story with Martha MacCallum.'
The worrying announcement that King Charles III is battling cancer, has thrust the British public and the world at large into a whirlwind of speculation and concern. Lamentably, with the ever-present Harry-and-Meghan factor, comes the least desirable thing at this difficult moment: a torrent of familial drama.
The monarch's decision to postpone public duties for medical treatment has understandably taken center stage, yet the intrusion of the Sussexes into the narrative has, as is always the case, added a layer of unwelcome intrusion.
Though postponing public engagements, Charles's dedication to his duties of state, even while undergoing treatment, is supremely commendable. The new king is proving he is the worthy heir of the beloved Queen Elizabeth II, famous for her commitment to duty and service. The announcement of Charles’ illness has sparked an outpouring of well-wishes and prayers for his swift recovery.
PRINCE HARRY'S UK VISIT TO KING CHARLES WAS NOTHING MORE THAN 'AN IMAGE SAVER': ROYAL EXPERT
The resilience he has displayed during this challenging time underscores the importance of steady leadership, especially in a world plagued with uncertainties. Worldwide sentiment, including that expressed on this side of the Atlantic, reflects a desire for the king’s speedy return to health and public service.
King Charles' cancer diagnosis leaves royals "very thin on the ground," royal expert Neil Sean said. (Getty Images)
The king informed his sons commensurately of his condition, prompting Prince Harry to hop a flight (mercifully without his wife) from California to see his father in person. The sudden visit has stirred a frenzy of public speculation. While some view his visit as a genuine expression of concern for his father's health, others, mindful of Harry and his wife’s checkered history, suspect ulterior motives, accusing him of seeking to redirect attention to himself.
The possibility of a reconciliation between Harry and his estranged family looms, prompting reflection on the transformative nature of confronting a parent's mortality. But the facts make this possibility remote. The visit to the UK, for which Harry had to stay in a hotel, included no time with his brother, and his meeting with Charles lasted less than an hour.
The tragedy lies in the fact that, at a time when the focus should be squarely on the king's health, the spotlight has once again shifted to the Sussexes. This echoes a pattern observed during the late queen's and the late duke of Edinburgh’s funerals, as well as Charles’ coronation last year, where family dynamics and personal narratives related to the poisonous duke and duchess loomed over the somber occasions.
The distraction caused by such speculation detracts from the gravity of Charles's condition and the public’s concern for his well-being.
While an end to the family strife brought on by the Sussexes’ behavior is best for all, if Harry truly desires reconciliation, it is he who must seek forgiveness from his family. He and his wife are the offending parties, not vice versa. It will require the utmost grace to forgive Harry such blistering insults to Queen Camilla as he fired off in his biography, "Spare," calling her "dangerous," and "a villain."
As the Sussexes labor tirelessly to stay relevant, they have failed to impress or inspire by their own efforts. Absent ties to Harry’s family, there seems to be little interest in the former working royals. The pattern of their published attacks and betrayals of Harry’s family has been tamed by the distance finally imposed by the royal family, who have denied the Sussexes access by rightfully evicting them last March from their only British residence, Frogmore Cottage.
The Sussexes must be decisively forbidden any further exploitation of Harry’s family for personal gain, particularly at this trying moment for the king’s health. It will only be the best of outcomes if Harry's journey is purely out of sincere concern rather than opportunistic motives.
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Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle should be treated differently than her husband. While Harry must be given the benefit of the doubt expressing concern for his father’s health, Meghan’s history of seeking to damage the royal family renders her beyond redemption.
The sudden visit has stirred a frenzy of public speculation. While some view his visit as a genuine expression of concern for his father's health, others, mindful of Harry and his wife’s checkered history, suspect ulterior motives, accusing him of seeking to redirect attention to himself.
A new biography of Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s relationship by Majesty Magazine editor Ingrid Seward reveals Harry’s grandfather’s wariness of Markle. According to Seward, Philip nicknamed Markle "DoW" because he felt her capacity to harm the monarchy reminded him of the duchess of Windsor, whom the queen mother blamed for the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII and the early death at 56 of Elizabeth’s father, George VI.
The fallout of Meghan’s scheming, malevolent behavior, including the blockbuster Oprah interview in which Meghan suggested the royals were a racist family, ensured that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were denied the peace they so richly deserved in their final years. Harry’s grandfather’s comparison of Meghan to the infamous duchess of Windsor adds a peerless insight to the narrative, emphasizing the gravity of Markle’s transgressions.
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The irony is cruel. Charles waited a lifetime to be king, and only a year into his reign, faces his own mortality. The global concern expressed for his welfare, comes from every corner of the globe, including even both presumptive U.S. presidential candidates.
The king has done a superb job during a tough first year, expressing sound, moral clarity, earning respect and affection at home and abroad. He has even found a way to use his health crisis as a means to help others to seek early diagnosis and treatment. Let us send him every good wish for a full and speedy recovery. May his days of convalescence be peaceful and, hope against hope, free of further Sussex psychodrama.