Pics confirm Harry’s week from hell

New shots of the extended royal family doing something pretty extraordinary only drive home the growing mess the Duke of Sussex finds himself in.

Shots. Handshakes. Slaps. When it comes to gestures heard around the world there are no end of examples.

Thus I give you The Hug — or more accurately — The Hugs.

On Wednesday, the royal family turned out for the second day of Ascot and in the bright sunshine of merry olde England and in full view of the crowd of 60,000 racegoers and they could not seem to stop grasping one another.

King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Mike and Zara Tindall, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, among others, clutched, embraced, they threw affectionate arms ‘round one another like they fresh off the back of a five day intensive bonding retreat held in a yurt with complimentary gong baths.

It was nothing short of a pretty remarkable display of warmth and togetherness.

Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks with guests upon arrival on the second day of the Royal Ascot. Picture: Benjamin Cremel/AFP

Queen Camilla and Zara Tindall hug at Royal Ascot. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Princess Eugenie of York had herself a time. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

And so we have two options here — we can bask in the warm glow of a royal family who have learnt the finer points of how to hug without the help of a footman or we can consider how this must all look a ten-hour flight away in the foothills of the Santa Ynez mountains.

While Crown Inc is having a tip-top, A-plus week — with the brief return to the spotlight to Kate, the Princess of Wales, the pomp, ceremony and big fluffy feathers of Garter Day in Windsor followed by the thundering hoofs of Ascot — can the same being said over there in the land of the free drink refills?

If Harry and wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex had hoped that one day Crown Inc would come a courting to woo them back or might show anything like contrition or regret then the taste of disappointment must be bitter indeed.

Last year, the duke told the Telegraph’s Bryony Gordon that he wanted from his family, “some accountability. And an apology to my wife.”

The “ball is in their court,” he told ITV’s Tom Bradby.

The royal family then not so much refused to serve said ball back but just turned their backs on the court entirely and nonchalantly wandered off to leave Harry with his big feelings and cheques and a whole lot of time in his diary for private pickleball lessons.

Britain's Prince Harry (L), Duke of Sussex, and Britain's Meghan (R), Duchess of Sussex, in Nigeria last month. Picture: Kola Sulaimon/AFP

Crown Inc has not responded once — not once — to any of the Sussexes’ interviews, books or the six-hours of Netflix viewing they created, perfect viewing for the masochist in your life.

The duke has failed to get anything so much as even a flimsy Tesco ‘I’m sawwwy’ card with a contrite looking kitten on the front and an impersonal ‘C III’ on the inside.

And now we have this week’s Ascot family fun times in a display of devotedness and warm feelings towards one another that Queen Victoria is probably rolling over in her grave.

Has Harry ever looked more distant and more disconnected from his family and quite simply, more alone?

Not only have the Sussexes not, in years of trying, gotten anything even vaguely resembling a concession or admission of wrongdoing on the palace’s part, they are now having to watch on as the royal family has never looked more united – and more welcoming to outsiders.

One of the duke and duchess’ central grievances has been how unwelcoming and unsupportive they were towards the transplanted actress when she moved to London. As Meghan told Netflix: “When Will and Kate came over … I remember I was in ripped jeans and barefoot.”

“Like I was a hugger, always been a hugger. I didn’t realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.”

“I guess I’d start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside, carried through on the inside. There is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and you relax now. But that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”

Zara Tindall (L), Princess Beatrice of York and Prince William, Prince of Wales laugh as they attend day two of Royal Ascot 2024 at Ascot Racecourse on June 19, 2024 in Ascot, England. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

That experience does not quite jibe with today’s new photos of William et al showing such warmth and cuddliness they should be opening a Care Bear convention.

Moreover, what makes these Ascot shots even more eye-opening is the extent to which they show Michael and Carole Middleton, Fergie, and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh and her father Christopher Rhys-Jones (a former tyre salesman) being wholly and eagerly embraced by the royal family.

The question to ask here is, just how much of an inescapable, lonely corner has Harry backed himself?

His cousins, notably the Tindalls, Peter Phillips and Beatrice and Eugenie and their husbands, have repeatedly bucked taking public sides, warmly chatting to the Sussexes at public events and with Eugenie having visited the family in California. (She even appeared in their docu-series via footage filmed of her and Harry in the back of a car, possibly on the way to the Super Bowl in 2022.)

However, none of them attended Princess Lilibet’s first birthday party in 2022, held at their former home Frogmore Cottage. Nor did they attend (though perhaps they were not invited) to the recent St Paul’s cathedral service for Harry’s Invictus Games in London – but did turn out in force to support William a couple of weeks later at a Buckingham Palace garden party.

Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, speaking at a conference in Texas in March. Picture: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP

If any of the Instagramming royal cousins did get any of Meghan’s debut American Rivieira Orchard product drop in April, they did not post about it. (Though somehow I don’t think they would have been on the jammy receiving end.)

With the duchess’ ARO plans and product range still under wraps and not having materialised in the months since the brand was unveiled; with Harry having failed to really elicit any sort of reaction from the palace, with the High Court in London having knocked back his case against the Home Office (he is appealing) over his security arrangements; and with the King reportedly having not invited the Sussexes to Balmoral for a holiday and then layer on top of all that these new hugger-mugger royal family shots … The picture does not exactly appear to be the brightest of bright ones for Aitch.

Whether William picked any winners at Ascot or not, he clearly has the love and support of his family and their newly discovered ability to hug and hug some more. And Harry? Well, he has his devoted wife and his devoted children and, I’m guessing, his devoted pickleball coach ready to work with him all summer long.

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.