Meghan was noticeably absent from the array of family photos which included William, Harry and Kate. Photo / Instagram
Meghan was noticeably absent from the array of family photos which included William, Harry and Kate. Photo / Instagram
OPINION:
Windsor Castle has never struck me as particularly cosy. As the largest and oldest inhabited castle in the world, construction started in 1070, the hulking beast boasts windows that date back to the 13th century, and clocks in the kitchen are wound five minutes early to guarantee the Queen never gets her boiled egg and soldiers a second late. And yet despite the sheer scale, the spectre of history (Oliver Cromwell used to imprison royal supporters there) and the impossibility of heating the joint, for some reason, Her Majesty loves it.
When the pandemic began last year, it was to Windsor that Her Majesty, Prince Philip and 22 of their most trusted staff relocated to create what was (and is) known as "HMS Bubble". It is where, since the loss of her husband of 73 years, she has enjoyed "a constant flow of lunches and dinners with family and friends, because the Queen does not want to dine alone" and spent evenings watching late night tele.
And that is the key thing to keep in mind here: That this is not some draughty mausoleum only occasionally inhabited by the royal family and which has been turned over to the handsy ghost of King Henry VIII. (He, along with nine other monarchs, is buried there.) It is also still very much a home – and a home that this week accidentally gave us something of insight into the state of relations with the Breakaway State of Sussex.
For a month now, the state of the Queen's health woes have dominated royal headlines after the 95 year old pulled out of a series of high-profile events, due to a mystery ailment.
Meghan was noticeably absent from the array of family photos which included William, Harry and Kate. Photo / Instagram
Ardent monarchists probably breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday morning when she farewelled General Sir Nick Carter, the outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff for the cameras in the castle's Oak Room, with the duo making the sort of excruciatingly dry small talk that seems to make up an ungodly proportion of ruling.
However what is intriguing here isn't the mind-numbingly banal chat or the appearance of royal dorgi Candy in frame but the selection of images of the Queen's family that appeared in the background of the particular room which happens to be Her Majesty's sitting room and office.
Clearly visible were a series of snaps including one of William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge taken for their engagement and another of William and brother Prince Harry.
Not there? Harry's wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
To be fair, the selection of images was far from recent.
However, the ongoing omission of any images of the actress-turned duchess-turned content creator or the Sussexes in the background of these sort of official moments has long been a sore point.
Their exclusion from the selection of family snaps chosen for the Queen's Christmas speech in 2019 was, according to the biography Finding Freedom, "for Harry and Meghan, it was yet another sign that they needed [to] consider their own path."
Still, what is interesting today is the fact that the Queen must realise that she could use such photo ops as a means of extending a regal olive branch to her granddaughter-in-law if she wanted.
The addition of a carefully chosen shot of Harry and Meghan, or even their son Archie's christening, slotted in amongst all the other family mementos would be a significant and powerful gesture after so much tumult and drama.
What is interesting is that this is a gesture which the Queen has clearly not availed herself of, so far, and that she seems to be showing outward indications of making any sort of symbolic overture towards the couple.
Two years on since Harry and Meghan decamped to Canada for what was meant to be a six-week break, the froideur between the couple and the house of Windsor shows no outward signs of thawing.
Nor will the festive season present any particular inroads on this front, based on a new report in the New York Post, with multiple royal sources telling the paper that Her Majesty had extended an invitation to the Sussexes to spend Christmas with the royal family but that the couple had declined.
"There's a lot that goes into the logistics and the planning of the family Christmas, so of course, staff know that Harry and Meghan are not coming," one royal source has said. "If they were, they would have communicated it to their family by now.
"But this is Her Majesty's first Christmas without her husband, so one would have hoped they would want to be with her."
The same report attributes the duke and duchess' decision to them not wanting "to cause the inevitable headlines that would come if they did fly over."
Sure, any sane soul would choose a balmy Californian get-together over an extended stay in icy Norfolk (Sheep! Church! Roast goose!) but it's another matter entirely whether anyone truly buys the 'staying away to be considerate' line.
As that same royal source pointed out, "I think everyone understands there will be a frenzy when they both come back to the UK, but they need to rip the [Band-Aid] off and get on with it."
And "get on with it" they must because time is very much a finite quantity here.
Never has the Queen's health and how long she might have left to reign been a more pressing question than over the last month with a number of signs pointing to the undeniable fact that her advanced years are catching up with her. She's temporarily given up riding her favourite Fell ponies, has started using a walking stick in public and her son Prince Charles this week said it was "not quite as easy as it used to be" for his mum to keep working.
While the fact she was up to meeting Sir General Carter this week and also held a face-to-face audience with Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week are encouraging signs, Her Majesty has, not to put too fine a point on it, a limited number of Christmases she has left.
Harry and Meghan have not celebrated the holidays with her since 2018, having spent 2019 in a borrowed mansion on Vancouver Island and 2020 in their $20 million pile in Montecito. Nor has the Queen seen her great-grandson Archie since 2019 and has never met her namesake and great-granddaughter Lilibet.
I know – several days trapped in that Norfolk estate with Princess Anne, several sherries in, trying to force everyone to play charades (I'm guessing) does not particularly sound like much fun but that's not what it is about, is it?
Harry and Meghan do have 'rip that Band-Aid off' at some stage when it comes to his family and they can't stay away from the UK forever. Surely, returning now, rather than next year during the thick of Platinum Jubilee celebrations, would be the lesser of the two PR evils for everyone involved.
If this Post report is anything to go by though, this will not be coming to pass.
So, it would seem we are stuck in a stalemate of sorts with neither side willing to make any sort of concession and with any sort of détente still a long way off. With less than 200 days to go before next year's Trooping the Colour, the focal point of Jubilee celebrations, the clock is ticking.
Who knows how many such Windsor photo ops the Queen might have left? Someone, sometime is going to have to make an opening move. Candi, the dorgi, this might all fall to you to try and fix …
• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
