HE Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s trip to Europe next month will be about ‘having their cake and eating it’, believes Sarah Vine. The Mail columnist told our royal talkshow Palace Confidential that the trip will be a chance for the pair to fulfil their dream of picking and choosing their duties.
‘The working royals are on quite a punishing schedule of day-to-day stuff, most of which doesn’t get any coverage, most of which isn’t very glamorous, most of which doesn’t involve wearing very expensive earrings and necklaces and saying very meaningful things about poor people, which is what Meghan likes to do,’ she tells the programme.
‘They don’t have to do that any more: They can come in, sweep in, get lots of coverage and then they can go home.’
Royal correspondent and author Victoria Murphy says it marks a step on the road to the new life that they have planned.
‘Despite the criticism that they get, they have kind of achieved what they want, because they are now doing the things they want to do in the way that they want to do them and they have that control,’ she says. ‘And because of their past roles and their links to the Royal Family they will always be relevant.’
This week social media has been awash with rumours that the Sussexes will renew their vows as part of a new Netflix reality show. Charlotte Griffiths, The Mail on Sunday’s editor at large, says it’s so outlandish that it just might be true.
‘It sounds so unrealistic, but the truth is stranger than fiction when it comes to these two,’ she says. ‘They probably have a lot of resentment around the wedding time, because of course there were all these dramas going on backstage, plus they need some interesting Netflix content, because footage of them at the WellChild awards is all very well, but they’ve got to have that Kardashian thing, that set-piece.’
Later in the show, our panel examine royal security in the wake of the news that Prince Andrew will keep his 24-hour police protection, despite Harry losing his. Plus, they look at how Prince Charles is combating his perceived negative portrayal on The Crown by tackling it head-on.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.