Harry and Meghan will carry out last leg of pseudo-royal tour today

2022-09-08

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will carry out last leg of pseudo-royal tour today as they attend WellChild awards – amid claims William only found out his brother was coming to Britain via news reports

The Sussexes are on the final day of their pseudo-royal tour of Europe with appearance at WellChild Awards
Omid Scobie claims that insiders have told him that Harry and William haven’t spoken properly in ‘over a year’
The brothers have met twice since last September but have stuck to ‘polite hellos’ and ‘little else’, he says
The Duke and Duchess are visiting three charities close to their heart this week before returning to the US
But insiders insist that they will not be meeting the Cambridges – despite being so close by in Windsor
Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Prince Louis had first day at new school

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will carry out the final leg of their ‘royal-not-royal’ tour today as it was claimed they never told Prince William they were coming to the UK – with the Duke of Cambridge reportedly finding out from the media.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue their engagements in Britain this afternoon by attending the WellChild Awards in London before heading back the US, perhaps as early as tonight.

The couple are believed to have enjoyed a day off resting at Frogmore Cottage – a short walk from the Cambridges who now live in Adeleide Cottage and took their two sons and daughter to Lambrook School in Berkshire for their first day yesterday.

Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Prince Louis prompted beams of delight from William and Kate as they ushered ‘all the gang’ up the steps of the prep school – although a grinning Louis declined to hold his father’s hand as he took the big moment for any child, and parent, in his stride.

This afternoon The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will celebrate the achievements and resilience of seriously ill youngsters and their families when they attend the WellChild Awards. But amid the sad and ongoing rift between the brothers, it is believed unlikely they have met up despite being neighbours this week.

Prince William is understood to have been made aware of their return to the UK via news reports, according to The Daily Telegraph.

And Omid Scobie, the couple’s biographer and considered their mouthpiece in the UK, claims Meghan and Harry still haven’t spoken to William and Kate – despite enjoying a day off at Frogmore Cottage just 700 yards away – because they want the Cambridges to take ‘accountability for crossing a line’.

Harry and William have seen each other twice in the past 12 months – but instead of talking through their rift they siblings have stuck to ‘polite hellos’ and ‘little else’, he said. One insider told him: ‘There’s a laughable effort to suggest the [Sussexes] have been shunned. The true story is, they never reached out to the Cambridges’.

Prince William (right) has ‘no plans’ to see his brother Prince Harry (left) until after the California-based royal releases his bombshell memoir this winter, despite the fact that the pair are currently staying half a mile apart from each other. The brothers are pictured together in July 2021. Sources have told Omid Scobie that it is the Sussexes who have not ‘reached out’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 – One Year To Go event in Germany

Harry and Meghan are staying at Frogmore Cottage located just 700 yards away from the Cambridges’ new four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all started at Lambrook School near Windsor yesterday – and were brought to the door by their parents

Monday, 5 September: One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit

The Sussexes travelled to Manchester by train where Meghan, 41, gave a speech on gender equality. The summit brought together young leaders from more than 190 countries.

The area around Bridgewater Hall, which is hosting the summit, was cleared for 90 minutes ahead of the couple’s arrival

Harry and Meghan asked private security firms to provide a ‘ring of steel’ in Manchester for their appearance at the forum.

After Meghan’s speech, which mentioned herself more than 50 times, the couple headed back on the train ti Euston.

Tuesday, 6 September: Invictus Games Düsseldorf 2023

After Monday’s trip to Manchester, the Sussexes travelled to Dusseldorf on Tuesday to mark a year before Harry’s next Invictus Games.

Harry previously announced the sixth games would be held in September 2023. He and Meghan attended the 2022 Invictus Games last April in the Netherlands.

MailOnline revealed that they were taken to and from Germany on a federal Luftwaffe jet.

The German military – known as the Bundeswehr – and the city of Dusseldorf are jointly hosting next year’s Invictus Games. As part of the agreement, the Bundeswehr offered the use of their private jet, also used by high-ranking politicians and officials, to Harry and Meghan.

Wednesday, 9 September

The Sussexes had no official plans. They had not said whether they intended to visit with the Queen who is at Balmoral in Scotland – but it appears they didn’t.

Her Majesty was forced to cancel a Privy Council meeting due to a bus day the day before.

Thursday, 8 September: WellChild Awards

The couple will attend the WellChild Awards ceremony in London on Thursday, where Harry will deliver a speech.

The WellChild Awards looks to ‘celebrate the inspirational qualities of the UK’s seriously ill children and young people, along with those who go that extra mile to make a difference to their lives.’

Harry and Meghan, who have been visiting Europe this week, will attend the glittering WellChild ceremony and the duke is expected to commend the courage of the young people recognised, and thank those who care and support them.

The duke has been patron of WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children and their families, since 2007.

During a pre-ceremony reception the couple will meet the winners of each award category, which include health professionals, and members of their families.

Harry will give a short speech during the event and the couple will present the award for most inspirational child aged four to six.

The awards celebrate the inspiring qualities of some of the country’s seriously ill young people and the dedication of those who go the extra mile to keep children healthy and happy, including health, social care and education professionals.

On Monday the couple attended the One Young World summit in Manchester where Meghan delivered a keynote speech and declared it was ‘very nice to be back in the UK’ and told the young leaders ‘you are the future, you are the present’.

It was their first public appearance in the UK since they joined other members of the royal family for events in June that celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

They also travelled to Dusseldorf in Germany on Tuesday, to mark the one-year countdown to The Invictus Games in the city, and thrilled fans when they went on a walkabout.

Mr Scobie claims that Harry believes that William is guilty of ‘turning his back when support was needed’ – while William is still waiting for his young brother to say sorry for Megxit and the transatlantic ‘truth bombs’ he and Meghan have dropped in various US TV and magazine interviews. William is said to be angry that Harry has shared private family conversations with millions.

A family friend told Mr Scobie: ‘People are desperate for steps to be made but behind the scenes there hasn’t been movement.

‘What [Harry] is waiting for is accountability… Many lines were crossed by William. He was at the centre of a number of painful moments, be it the actions of his own staff or turning his back when support was needed. It was a dark time and one that, so far, William has been unprepared to unpack.’

The same friend says the stalemate is cemented because Prince William is ‘still waiting’ for an apology for Harry’s decision to discuss private Royal Family matters in public, adding in his Yahoo column: ‘When you look at the bare facts, it becomes obvious why it is pretty much the same state of affairs as years ago.’

It was claimed this week that William won’t speak to Harry until his memoirs are released, fearing their conversation would appear on its pages.

The Sussexes borrowed a $50million German taxpayer-owned Luftwaffe jet to take them to and from Dusseldorf on Tuesday, MailOnline revealed yesterday.

The couple are back at Frogmore Cottage, their grace-and-favour UK home, where they are expected to spend the day together before their next engagement on their pseudo-royal tour of Europe in London today.

The Sussexes profess to hate the stifling formality and archaic traditions of royal life. But everything about Harry and Meghan’s visit to Germany to promote Invictus Games 2023 screamed of a royal tour-lite.

And MailOnline can reveal this extended to the way they travelled to Dusseldorf, because a $50million German Air Force jet with ‘Luftwaffe’ on the tail was sent to London to collect them. At around the same time, Harry’s grandmother, the Queen, was photographed for the first time since July meeting her new Prime Minister Liz Truss at Balmoral.

Harry and Meghan are staying at Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, which is their residence when in the UK

Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate is where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have moved to in recent days

The German Air Force plane used by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was a Bombardier Global 5000 usually reserved for senior members of the German government or armed forces. But it was lent to the Sussexes who then didn’t need to fly commercial.

It landed in the UK on Tuesday morning and took the couple from RAF Northolt at 11.34am, landing at Dusseldorf Airport at 1.23pm – 15 minutes behind schedule. After being met on the Tarmac they were then swept into the city in a black Porsche Cayenne.

After the Invictus engagements, the plane left Dusseldorf at 8.51pm, landing back at Northolt under an hour later. They were then driven the 20 miles to Windsor. The plane left Northolt at 9.24pm, returning to Cologne at 11.16pm local time, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.

A source said: ‘The Bundeswehr have a fleet of transport jets and this was most suitable for the short trip from England. It has the smallest capacity for passengers.

‘There isn’t a military base in Dusseldorf so the plane flew from Cologne and picked up the guests at RAF Northolt. It flew the party back to the same place and returned to Cologne.

‘The Bundeswehr are proud to be associated with the games to help with wounded war veterans and the offer was made when we were awarded the games. The same offer will apply next year when the games start.’

The jet, a Bombardier BD-700 is used mainly for short flights around Europe, although it has flown to Israel, Lebanon and the UAE.

According to flight data records, it has flown almost 250 times in the past year, averaging 700 miles per flight.

It has also travelled to the Cape Verde islands, Dakar in Senegal as well as trips to Bolivia and Colombia.

The aircraft has also flown to Canada.

RAF Northolt is the jet’s sixth most visited location over the past year, behind four German destinations and Brussels.

It is a twin-engine long-range jet which can carry a maximum of 19 passengers.

It has a top speed of 590mph and a range of 7,279 miles.

As the trip was compared to a royal engagement that Harry and Meghan would have done in the past, perhaps, remarked one household insider archly, that’s because the institution has spent decades perfecting what works best – and they know it.

‘Or could it be that they don’t quite hate what we do as much they profess,’ the source added, eyebrow raised skywards.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the red carpet during the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 – One Year To Go launch event

The German armed forces sent a $50million German Air Force jet with ‘Luftwaffe’ on the tail to London to collect the Sussexes and bring them to and from Dusseldorf

This is the flight log of the German Air force jet that was waiting for the Sussexes at RAF Northolt

Meghan takes selfies with well-wishers outside the town hall during the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 – One Year To Go event

Harry also joined in the fun – shaking hands with the crowds in the centre of Dusseldorf

Dozens of members of the Bundeswehr were present at the town hall in Dusseldorf where Harry and Meghan were met by the town’s Mayor Stephan Keller and the deputy secretary of defence Markus Laubenthal.

While Harry and Meghan carried out their official engagements the jet, which can carry up to 19 passengers, sat on the tarmac at Dusseldorf airport.

Flight tracking radar for the jet – call sign GAF645 – shows that it spent just under four hours flying time on ferrying the Californian based couple to and from the UK.

The Canadian built Bombardier jet has a range of over 6,000 miles and is favoured by many of the private companies, such as Netjets.

It is considered part of the transport fleet operated by the German Air Force. Other jets include an Airbus A319 used by airlines around the world.

The smaller Bombardier is used to take military chiefs on official duties around the country and visits abroad.

Officials in Duisseldorf are said to be ‘thrilled’ by the visit of Harry and Meghan and the positive publicity it has brought to the city.

Although a private visit the extensive walkabout when Harry and Meghan meet the crowd outside the town hall it had all the feel of a royal walkabout.

‘We could not be happier with the way the visit went,’ said a city official.

‘The couple were absolutely charming and everyone was pleased when they went to meet the crowds who had stood for a long time in the sun to see them.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s latest round of public engagements involved red carpets, selfies and walkabouts as the couple attend events that are close to their heart this week.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have both delivered speeches during the last two days, with Meghan, 41, opening the One Young World summit in Manchester on Monday, and Harry, 37, speaking at the Invictus Games one year to go event in Germany on Tuesday.

As the couple paid a flying visit to Dusseldorf , they were invited to sign an official book and enjoy a boat cruise along the Rhine, with blockades put in place along the city’s roads.

The event had many of the hallmarks of a royal visit despite the couple being classed as private citizens rather than royals by German police — including meeting the crowds outside, some of whom were waving the British flag.

Critics have said that their list of engagements this week ‘could have been plucked from their calendar’ before they left the Firm.

With two events completed, their schedule still includes the WellChild Awards on Thursday, a charity for which Harry is a patron.

The Duke of Sussex appeared on stage at the Merkur-Spiel arena as part of an event to mark preparations for the 2023 Invictus Games.

The Paralympic-style event for servicemen and women founded by the prince will be held in the city next year, and the royal told a crowd of journalists he was ‘beyond impressed’ by what he had seen so far, after being met by hundreds of adoring fans.

As he and wife Meghan left the event, they posed for a group photo with those who had taken part in the press conference.

Earlier in the day the Duke charmed Dusseldorf by speaking German and praising their beer before Meghan posed for selfies and chatted with crowds in a royal walkabout on the latest leg of their pseudo-royal tour of the UK and Europe.

The couple, who are staying at Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, were all smiles as they arrived in the city’s main square where hundreds of royal fans stood for over two hours in the stifling heat to see them promote the games exactly a year before it is due to start next September.

The Telegraph’s royal editor Hannah Furness has argued that their trip has a ‘distinctly royal feel’.

‘All broadly follow the pattern set by the Queen who chooses good causes and good people to honour with a royal visit,’ she said.

Their three short visits to the One Young World summit, Invictus Games event and WellChild Awards encompass this pattern.

Earlier Meghan and Harry met fans with the Duchess of Sussex posing for selfie-after-selfie with well-wishers. She spoke to Maureen and Karl Heinz Kenpen who had stood at the front for over two hours Maureen 83, told Meghan she was English and had moved to Germany to marry.

Meghan told the couple: ‘That is a beautiful love story.’

The Duchess was also presented with a posy by someone in the crowd, a tradition seen at royal visits.

The couple looked overwhelmed by the warmth of the reception and spent close to 15 minutes thanking the fans for coming to see them.

The adoring crowd lapped up every word the couple spoke as they worked their way along the line.

Meghan was flanked by her personal bodyguard Christopher Sanchez who at one point looked concerned as the crowd surged forward and threatened to spill over the metal barricades.

The Duchess looked overwhelmed by the reception she was getting and repeatedly thanked people for waiting to see them.

Meghan was also handed flowers in a meet-and-greet that looked just like a royal tour event

The Duchess speaks to a young girl and also cooed over a baby in Dusseldorf

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex takes selfies with well-wishers outside the town hall during the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 – One Year To Go events

Meghan shakes hands as she and Harry and Prince Harry visit the city as ambassador for the Invictus games, a week-long games for active servicemen and veterans who are ill, injured or wounded

Meghan spent several minutes speaking to people, many of them young women, who had waited for hours to see her

The ‘pseudo-royal tour’ moments from the Sussexes engagements

The Sussexes engagements this week have been dubbed a ‘pseudo-royal tour’, with key moments from their travels looking similar to that of a royal visit.

These include:

Meghan Markle’s opening speech at the One Young World summit on Monday
Road blockades on their arrival in Germany
A red carpet and photo walkabout on arrival in Dusseldorf
Meghan being handed a posy from the crowd
The signing of the ‘Golden Book’, which is signed by all visiting dignitaries to Dusseldorf
An hour-long cruise along the Rhine on £13million MS Rhein Galaxie
Harry’s speech at the Invictus Games one year to go event

As part of their visit to the German city, police closed junctions and set up miles of roadblocks from Dusseldorf airport to the city centre so that the Sussexes and their entourage, including a personal doctor, could avoid traffic jams on the three mile journey.

As the visit was not a ‘royal visit’, there were no police motorcycle outriders and accompanying police cars would not turn on their flashing blue lights. But a police source said a vehicle carrying a doctor and medical equipment will have been part of the convoy for the three-mile drive into the city.

German police said they were only involved primarily on crowd control in the market square where Harry and Meghan started their visit at around 12.30pm.

More than 500 people stood behind metal barriers outside the entrance to the town hall. Some had taken their place at the front three hours before the planned arrival of the couple.

City officials also rolled out the red carpet — and even hoovered it — but insisted that the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was private and they were protected by their own security team with the couple footing the bill.

Last minute preparations also included red and white flowers – the official colours of the city – being placed around the entrance to the town hall.

They were met in the red carpet by Düsseldorf mayor Stephan Keller and a senior member of the German military.

The trip has been criticised as resembling a ‘royal tour’.

One insider said this pattern is ‘ironic given they profess to hate everything about the institution and royal life’, the Scottish Express reported.

The couple travelled in a Porsche 4×4 while aides from Archwell were in an Audi. The team of bodyguards travelled in two black people carriers.

The pair were meeting officials and potential competitors in the city on Tuesday. They were taken by boat along the Rhine River from the reception to the Merkur Spiel-Arena for a press conference where Harry delivered a speech.

At the town hall, the couple signed what is known as the ‘Golden Book’.

The oversized leather-bound volume is signed by all visiting dignitaries to Dusseldorf, the capital of the Rhine-Westphalia region.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at the Invictus Games one year to go event in Dusseldorf

Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games event in Dusseldorf, Germany, this afternoon

The couple waved to the crowd, who were calling their names after hours waiting for them

Harry and Meghan got the red carpet treatment despite being classed as private citizens rather than royals by German police

The Sussexes are in Europe to officially launch the 2023 Invictus Games but are staying in the UK

Alfred Marstaller, Brigadier general, Lord Mayor of the State Capital, Dr. Stephan Keller, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Parliamentary secretary with the Ministry of Defence, Siemtje Muller and Markus Laubenthal, General lieutenant, pose at the town hall

City officials remove plastic film from the red carpet ahead of the Sussexes’ arrival

A worker vacuums the steps before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive

The page assigned to the couple was already been prepared with their names in red Roman cursive writing.

Harry was billed as’ Prinz Harry Herzog von Sussex’ while his wife is ‘Meghan, Herzogin von Sussex’ – translated as Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Although there is a balcony in the book signing room overlooking the market square, the couple did not step out to wave to crowds gathered below.

‘That would not be appropriate,’ said a city official.

A convoy of cars then took the couple to a jetty about two miles away where they boarded the MS Rhein Galaxie for the hour-long cruise along the Rhine.

Their afternoon jaunt on the £13million boat took them to Duisburg and ended at the Merkur-Spiel sports stadium where the sports event for disabled military veterans was held.

The Golden Book in the Town Hall in Dusseldorf was ready to be signed by Harry and Meghan at the reception to launch the Invictus Games 2023

The Von Sussexes: The Golden Book at Dusseldorf town hall was ready to be signed by Harry and Meghan on Tuesday

The couple smiled and waved as they boarded the boat for a river cruise

A source with the city of Dusseldorf told Mail Online: ‘Of course this is a private visit, but we do not want anything to go wrong or there to be any incident. We are showcasing the city.

‘They will have their own security teams, but the police area being consulted and will be involved. We are hosts for the Invictus Games and we want everything to run very smoothly.

‘There have been lots of consultations and plans have changed, but we are confident it will be a trouble-free visit.’

On Monday the couple were in Manchester where Meghan opened the One Young World summit.

She has been a counsellor with the organisation, which champions change made by young people across the globe, since 2014.

However last night she was accused of making a speech that just focused on ‘me, me, me’ as she made at least 54 references to herself during a seven-minute talk to young people billed as being about gender equality.

It was the Duchess’ first address in Britain since Megxit as she opened the event at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester watched by her smiling husband Harry.

Meghan Markle (pictured on Monday) gave a seven-minute speech focused on ‘me, me, me’, royal experts said, during her first address in Britain since Megxit more than two years ago, as she gushed about Prince Harry and the ‘life-changing’ impact of becoming a mother to Archie

Meghan told the event it was ‘very nice to be back in the UK’ before touting her own work with the organisation. Meghan seemingly tried to relate with the youth attendees, telling them: ‘In many ways I was probably like a lot like you, I was young, ambitious.’ The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pictured together at Monday’s event

Meghan and Harry had been given a warm welcome at the event. But minutes earlier, as the couple climbed out of their car, many in a 100- strong crowd booed from behind a barrier just yards away, with onlookers saying it was so loud ‘there was no doubt they would have heard’.

One protester was carrying a sign that read: ‘FO Harry and Me-Gain Fake Royals.’

Despite having been selected to discuss gender equality, Meghan only made one brief anecdote about a woman other than herself. The Duchess of Sussex said that the first year she joined One Young World in Dublin, she worked with a young woman from Eritrea.

‘She had escaped her home country, fleeing with bullets fired above her head. I still remember it so well,’ she said. ‘I remember my shock, and I also remember her courage, my recognition of how much continues to go on each day with so many turning a blind eye. And yet despite all odds, she like so many still persevered.’

Royal experts criticised Meghan after the speech for delivering an address that ‘lacked content’ and was riddled with confusing and insincere commentary.

Meghan also told the audience, made up of young delegates from more than 190 countries, that they are ‘the future, but also the present, driving the positive and necessary change needed across the globe.’ She and Prince Harry are pictured at Manchester Train Station as they make their return to London on Monday night

One protester was carrying a sign that read: ‘FO Harry and Me-Gain Fake Royals’

‘I can’t visualise or comprehend how the 2,000 young people understood a word of what she was talking about,’ Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, told The Sun.

‘It made no sense. It was all about her and related everything to herself.

‘I don’t think she knew what she was talking about. It was just ‘me, me, me’ and praising herself.

On Thursday, the couple will attend the WellChild Awards, which celebrate the bravery of young people from across the UK who have coped with a serious illness or disability.

Prince Harry is a patron of the charity since 2007, with Meghan joining him at the 2018 and 2019 awards.

The event includes a reception, followed by a dinner and an awards ceremony.

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