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Gazing serenely out the window from the passenger seat of a car, Kate, Princess of Wales smiled as her husband William drove the family to a church service near Balmoral on August 23.
The family’s outing came just days after the bombshell news broke that William’s brother Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were returning to the UK for an “extended period”.
The couple are said to have enrolled their children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, in local schools to start classes in September, and they are rumoured to have eyed up the UK’s scenic Cotswolds as the location for their private, non-royal home.
The development – which King Charles is said to have only learned of days before it was made public – is understood to have come as a shock to William and Kate, who remain estranged from Harry and Meghan after the couple’s infamous Oprah interview and the allegations made in Harry’s memoir Spare.
Not that they would have you know it – as the Princess of Wales’ smile on the way to church on Sunday showed no sign of distress.
Kate and William were among several senior Royal Family members who descended upon Balmoral over the weekend.
Indeed, it’s speculated the wider family – including Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, Prince Edward as well as Zara and Mike Tindall, and Zara’s brother Peter Phillips and his wife Harriet Sperling – came together for something of a Sussex “summit” at the King’s Scottish retreat.
Now, insiders tell Woman’s Day that after “several days of intense meetings”, Kate and William have set upon an agreed approach in light of the impending arrival of Harry and Meghan.
“William decided on a very simple path forward – and one he thinks the late Queen would approve,” the source says.
“He and Kate decided that Harry and Meghan, like it or leave it, will soon be ‘their subjects’ and if they’re going to be King and Queen one day, they need to put on their diplomacy caps and make this work in their favour and on their terms.
“They have no interest in a fake competition – they’re so above all that as heirs to the throne – they’ll be running in completely different circles to Harry and Meghan.
“But adopting the ‘never complain or explain’ and rising above what’s going to be a three-ring circus is what William and Kate are sticking to – for now.”
Writing on his Naughty But Nice substack, royal expert Rob Shuter claimed that William and Kate are convinced that Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK will be temporary.
“William and Kate play the long game,” a palace insider told Shuter.
“They’re not going to fight them, brief against them or get dragged into another Sussex circus. Their attitude is simple: sit back, wait and see what actually happens.”
It’s been reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attempt to work out a mutually beneficial relationship with the Royal Family as “private royals-plus” on their return to the UK – a relationship that could see them step out alongside other family members.
“It needs all sides to agree a template for ‘private royals-plus’. It needs them to be much more ‘private’ than ‘working’, and be seen at family occasions, like Christmas at Sandringham,” a source told the Sunday Times.
“That requires William and Catherine to say ‘yes please’ and how on earth does that happen? Just saying it out loud sounds implausible.”
The source also said Harry and Meghan would also be “watched like hawks” in case it appears they are trying to monetise their brand during their UK stint.
“The feeling has always been they can do that in Montecito, but not here. If they come over and do the Montecito playbook – doing deals and making money – in the Cotswolds… that’s not going to go down well,” the source said.
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