I start work early on weekdays, because I’m an early riser and I get a lot done when I can start my day before most people are awake. It’s useful being on the East Coast, especially since we’re currently getting so many stories from and about Salty White Folk Isle. The time difference means that I’m already up as stories as breaking in the UK, which is how it happened on April 9th, the day Prince Philip passed away. The story of Philip’s passing broke with a formal announcement by Buckingham Palace before 7 am EST. Meaning, it was before 4 am on the West Coast, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reside. Apparently, people at the British embassy in the US were informed of Philip’s passing before the BP announcement, and they tried to get in touch with Harry by phone. It got more complicated from there:
Prince Harry got a phone call recently with some tragic news, but he never answered the phone and cops ended up at his door. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … back on April 9, someone from the U.S. Embassy began calling Harry just before 3 AM to inform him his grandfather, Prince Philip, had died.
It’s unclear if Harry’s ringer was turned off or whether he and Meghan were just sound sleepers, but no one answered. After repeated attempts, the Embassy rep called the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Dept. and asked if an officer could go to Harry’s Montecito estate to inform him the Embassy was urgently trying to reach him.
The Sheriff’s Dept. obliged and an officer rolled up to the gates of Harry and Meghan’s estate and made contact with someone who went and told Harry he needed to call the Embassy STAT, and that’s how Harry was informed Prince Philip had died.
As you know … Prince Philip died the morning of April 9 at Windsor Castle in England, which is 8 time zones ahead of California.
There’s some interesting subtext to this story … the Royals are extremely upset that Harry and Meghan have gone public with their grievances over their treatment by the Royal Family, including allegations of racism. You gotta think they did not want Harry to learn of Philip’s death through the media … it would make the Royals look kinda heartless, so the scramble to get to Harry ahead of the death announcement is understandable.
[From TMZ]
Yeah, you know what looks bad here? Not the fact that Harry and Meghan likely turn off their phone ringers at night. It’s that the Windsors wanted Harry to be told about his grandfather’s passing by an ambassador’s assistant or sheriff’s deputy. Granted, we don’t know who tried to call in what would have been the wee hours of the California morning. Maybe Charles tried to call and only got Harry’s voicemail. But it does sound like Buckingham Palace was fine with informing Harry via the embassy rather than directly through the family.
Soon after Philip’s death was announced, American and British outlets claimed that day that Harry had already spoken to his father and his York cousins. Did he call them after the sheriff’s deputy came to his house?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
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