Catching up with the royals (July 21, 2025)
A demanding monarch, a looming birthday, and Netflix woes
ALMOST ON VACATION
The royals were busy last week but things are definitely slowing as the summer holidays approach. William and Kate and kids are already on their summer break while the King and Queen will start their holidays this week. Expect days to pass without any updates of the Court Circular, though the particularly long gaps that used to occur during the reign of Elizabeth II are rarer these days.
Though President Trump will be in Scotland later this month, he won't meet with King Charles III, who will be at his Scottish home of Birkhall on the Balmoral estate. Instead, they’ll wait for the state visit in mid-September.
Windsors will arrive en masse at their Scottish retreat starting the week of Monday, August 11 (we know because the castle and its grounds close to the public on August 10).
THE KING'S STAFFING WOES
The Sunday Times reports that a lot of gardeners have left their positions at King Charles's private home of Highgrove, driven away by his exacting and onerous demands, as well as low salaries. According to the Times, Charles supervises
everything from the size of peaches to the shade of roses. He does this by attending walkabouts at the property, then sending notes in thick red ink to garden staff who are expected to act before his next return.
The memos are often strikingly specific and emotional — demanding, for instance, that staff move a single, unacceptable ragwort from the perimeter of his swimming pool; telling them their failure to cultivate his beloved delphiniums had caused an almighty disappointment and spoilt one of his favourite moments of the summer; and even correcting grammar. Others are more positive: Charles expressing his giddy delight at the progress of a particular specimen, or affixing several exclamation marks to an upbeat comment.
The house’s increasingly elaborate gardens are open to the public and a big money-maker for his King's Foundation. According to the Times, “Of 12 full-time gardeners employed in 2022, 11 have left, including two heads of gardens and a deputy head gardener who departed within the space of a year.” Some of those who left complained that they were being asked to do too much given their resources and staffing levels.
The entire situation at Highgrove’s gardens is not a good look for an immensely wealthy monarch.
WHAT TO GET A NO-NONSENSE PRINCESS
Princess Anne doesn’t want a big party or fuss to mark her 75th birthday on August 15. So, to celebrate “the legacy of one of the longest-serving members of the royal family,” the Royal Mint is offering something rather different and special — her image on a commemorative coin. It’s the first time the Princess Royal has appeared on a coin. She approved the design, which features her wearing her aquamarine pinecone tiara and matching pendant.
In a truly royal twist, her big brother, aka the King, would have also signed off on the coin and its design.
WILL PRINCE HARRY RETURN TO THE U.K.?
Last week, Prince Harry visited Angola to promote the work of the Halo Trust, a landmine clearance charity. He walked through a mine field, following in the footsteps of his mother, who did it shortly before her death in 1997.
So many mines were planted during Angola's two decade-long civil war that it's estimated there are still another 1,000 minefield that need to be cleared.
A few days later, the Times released a poll by YouGov showing that only 24 percent of Britons think it would be good for Harry and Meghan to return to live in the U.K. The other big headline result was that nearly half of those polled want the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to have their titles removed (yeah, that isn’t going to happen, though they may lose their HRH styles in a bigger shake-up of who gets them).
On a more conciliatory note, 44 percent say that Harry should forgive his family while 40 percent say the royals should forgive Harry.
Any rapprochement “depends on how they come back, and on what terms,” explained royal commentator Sarah Hewson to the Times. “It would really take Charles as the King to pave the way for them coming back.” Such magnanimity would echo how Elizabeth II welcomed Camilla into the royal family, and even asked that her daughter-in-law become the queen consort when Charles acceded the throne.
MEGHAN’S SHOW IS OFFICIALLY A FLOP
Netflix released its semi-annual viewership numbers and they confirmed what we suspected — With Love, Meghan wasn’t popular with viewers. It is the No. 383 series with 5.3 million views and 25.5 million hours viewed. Even worse, half of those viewers watched in the first week of its release in early March.
None of their Netflix offerings did well, especially Polo, which was released in mid-December.
First half of 2025 Netflix series data:
No. 383: With Love, Meghan —25.5 million hours viewed and 5.3 million views
No. 1,764: Harry & Meghan — 7.3 million hours viewed and 1.3 million views
No. 3,436: Polo — 2.1 million hours viewed and 500,000 views
Not in the list of 7,508 series: Heart of Invictus
I wrote more about how Sussex productions have fared on Netflix in “Where do Meghan and Harry go after being No. 383?” Click here to read the post.