Harry and Meghan return to London

Thursday is the day; the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth is being celebrated. Grandly. Since her coronation, there hasn't been such a public party, so you can imagine the scale of it. Millions of people are expected, the photographers have polished their lenses because the entire royal family will be present. Including Harry, Meghan, Archie, and Lilibet, so you understand: London is already buzzing with excitement for this reason.

• Harry and Meghan will be with the family for the first time since their split. Harry came to London for the funeral of Prince Philip, but Meghan has stayed in Montecito the whole time. Like in any family, this family is certainly not free from relational issues. The relationship between Harry and William is, of course, very fragile at this moment, Meghan would not want to see Prince Andrew, and Elizabeth has expressed the wish that there will be no internal fuss.

• The camera crew buzzing around Harry and Meghan for the Netflix series would also come to London in the hope of finally capturing some exciting people on camera. Because that Netflix series is not going well at all. They probably underestimated the cooperation of other royals a bit too lightly. During the Invictus Games, they had hoped for Willem-Alexander and Máxima, but the latter only came when Meghan was already gone. No idea if that was intentional, but still. Most royals are not very keen on appearing soap-opera-like in a Netflix series, and moreover, many people seem unwilling to take a stance in the conflict between Meghan and Harry on one side and the British royal family on the other. Recently, Meghan and Harry invited the Mayor of London to their home in Montecito because the Mayor of London was in LA. He declined the offer because it would be too long a drive from LA to Montecito (1.5 hours). Many people have the impression that the Mayor would say this, but actually, he just doesn't want to make a choice.

• The queen sees Lilibet for the first time. Although the little girl is named after her great-grandmother, she has not yet met her in person. That will happen this Thursday, and you understand that photographers are fighting to capture that moment. And preferably as the first.

• Thomas Markle. If there were a prize for attention-seeker, Thomas Markle would win the lifetime achievement award, because he knows how to draw attention to himself at this event again. He would go to London as a ‘tourist’ so he might catch a glimpse of his grandchildren. After that, he had another medical issue and indicated that he would not come after all.
• Aside from Meghan and Harry, the eyes will also be on Prince Andrew who, now that the whole Epstein affair has been settled and paid off, can simply crawl back under his mother's skirts.

• And then I hope we also look at that queen who has served her kingdom for seventy years and seems to face the hardest headwinds just at the end, without a husband. I hope that Thursday will also be a little about her.