In the Year of Our Lord 2025, upon the ninth day of September, did Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, return from the distant land of California to the realm of his birth, to pay solemn homage at the resting place of his grandmother, Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, of blessed memory.
Alone he came unto Windsor, and alone did he kneel before the tomb set in St. George’s Chapel, bearing with him a wreath of fair flowers, that he might honour the third passing-year of the sovereign lady who had ruled long and with great renown. No kinsman joined him, nor did the bells ring in welcome; the silence of his house spake louder than any word.
Queen Elizabeth, whose life had stretched to six and ninety winters, gave up her ghost in the Scottish highlands at Balmoral in the Year 2022. Though her reign was long and steadfast, her final season was much troubled by the sundering within her house — chiefly wrought, say many, by the words and deeds of Harry and his wife, the Lady Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
A certain sage of courtly affairs, one Richard Fitzwilliams by name, spake unto scribes of the Fox and bore witness thus: “’Tis meet and proper that the prince cometh to pay his respects. Yet the memory of pain lingereth, for the Sussex pair didst cause sore distress to Her Majesty in her latter days.”
The prince’s lady-wife and their offspring — Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet — remained in the New World and did not tread the shores of Albion.
Though whispers stirred in the wind that King Charles, father of Harry, might grant him audience, it is known by many learned watchers of the court that such a meeting is most unlikely. The wound between them is yet unhealed, and trust, once shattered, is not swiftly mended.
So saith Fitzwilliams once more: “The Prince of Wales, William, and his lady, the Princess Catherine, did visit the Women’s Institute this day in quiet remembrance. Naught suggesteth he shall meet his wayward brother, with whom he hath not broken bread nor spoken word for thrice a year.”
The King, now in his seventy-sixth year and of frail health, is believed to dwell at Balmoral, in solitude and contemplation, far from London town.
Another voice, Helena Chard, wise in the ways of the royal court, spake thus: “Prince Harry returneth not only in grief, but for duty’s sake, to attend the WellChild Awards — a cause dear to his heart and marked by twenty years of noble work.”
At this gathering of valorous children and their caretakers, the Duke did converse warmly, and in one jestful moment, hinted at his own long-standing discord with his brother, the Prince of Wales. To a youth named Declan, who spake kindly of his younger brother, Harry inquired: “Doth he vex thee?” And when the boy said “Nay, we are well content,” the prince, with a knowing smile, replied, “That can oft make things more difficult,” recalling, perhaps, his own schooling with William at Eton.
Since he and the Duchess forsook their place among the senior royals in the Year 2020, citing the harshness of the scribes and lack of succour from the palace, much strife hath followed. The pair crossed the great sea to dwell in peace, yet in interviews and writings — chief among them the tome Spare, penned by the Duke himself in 2023 — did they lay bare the secrets of the House of Windsor, kindling fury and sorrow among their kin.
Earlier this year, in the month of May, the Duke spake unto the heralds of the BBC and professed a desire for reconciliation: “I would fain make peace,” quoth he, “for my father’s days are numbered, and quarrels are a heavy burden to bear.” Yet no such peace was struck, nor hath father and son clasped hands since the cold days of February, after the king’s affliction by the shadow of cancer was first declared.
Thus it stands: a prince come home to mourn, yet welcomed not by those of his own blood. The crown endures, but the family lies divided.
And so we await the turning of the page.
