Off duty, Kate Middleton was photographed looking stoic and contemplative yesterday, one day after the release of Prince Harry’s much-buzzed-about memoir Spare. But on duty today, the Princess of Wales and husband Prince William were all smiles in Merseyside, carrying on with the royal family’s strategy of acting like everything is business-as-usual despite Harry and Meghan Markle’s claims about the family’s mistreatment of them generating global headlines.
William and Kate matched in black and green ensembles, Kate in a plaid coat and William in a green sweater and dark blazer. They were photographed grinning and waving at photographers while arriving at Royal Liverpool University Hospital to greet healthcare workers. Their visit in Merseyside today is to “thank those working in healthcare and mental health support for their work during the winter months,” per the photo agency.
While William, Kate, and neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace have commented on Spare, sources close to the royals have. A source told Harper’s Bazaar‘s royal reporter Omid Scobie that William was “devastated” by what Harry shared in Spare. Harry, among many other revelations about royal life, wrote about William allegedly physically assaulting him during an argument about Meghan.
“He’s not ignoring the things his brother has shared,” the source said. “The dust needs to settle, but … this has been food for thought.”
A source told Us Weekly on January 8 that “Kate feels that Harry’s actions are atrocious. She is appalled at him for dragging her name through the dirt and is finding it hard to forgive.”
Harry spoke on 60 Minutes about how the royals may not speak directly to the press but in practice use “royal sources” to put the narratives they want out on their behalves. Harry said he has never done this, which is why he is sharing his experiences publicly in his memoir and Netflix docuseries after trying to have discussions about what happened to him and Meghan privately for so long.
“So now, trying to speak a language that perhaps they understand, I will sit here and speak truth to you with the words that come out of my mouth, rather than using someone else, an unnamed source, to feed in lies or a narrative to a tabloid media that literally radicalizes its readers to then potentially cause harm to my family, my wife, my kids,” Harry said.
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
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