Why was next week’s Diana Award fundraiser abruptly canceled?

Two weeks ago, the Mail’s Charlotte Griffiths exclusively reported that the Duchess of Sussex would join her husband at a fundraising dinner for the Diana Award. Apparently, there was supposed to be a dinner on September 18th, and Griffiths claimed it would be Meghan’s first outing since the move back to the UK. Soon after the Mail published that story, the Sussexes’ spox told the Daily Express: “Despite the Daily Mail’s reporting to the contrary, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not scheduled to attend a Diana Award event at Raffles Hotel, OWO London, on September 18. Facts matter. Accuracy matters. Apparently, neither made the guest list for this particular story.” I sort of had mixed feelings about that denial, because the original story wasn’t actually that bad, and many of us would love to see Meghan join Harry at various charity events. Well, here’s a curious update – apparently, there was absolutely going to be a fundraising dinner on the 18th, but it has now been canceled.

A major fundraising event for The Diana Award has been abruptly cancelled, with royal reporter Charlotte Griffiths claiming Prince Harry’s “paranoia” over security and secrecy surrounding his potential attendance was behind the decision.

The Diana Award, launched in 1999 in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, recognises young people who are working to create positive change in their communities. Its patrons include Diana’s sons, Prince Harry, 41, and Prince William, 44, who have both maintained ties to the organisation despite their bitter estrangement.

According to Griffiths, an upcoming black-tie gala dinner for the charity, which was set to be held at Raffles London at The OWO on September 18, was abruptly scrapped just over a week before it was due to take place. The cancellation came just days after Griffiths, the Editor at Large of the Mail on Sunday, reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who recently returned to the UK after six years living in the US, were expected to attend.

“There’s been a big mystery in royal land… because a very anticipated event has been cancelled – all of a sudden, it got cancelled,” Griffiths told Daily Mail Voices on Wednesday evening. “The event was the fundraising dinner for The Diana Award… and it was a very exciting event – I revealed it in the Mail on Sunday.”

“Strangely, mysteriously, everyone who was attending the event gets an email two days later saying that the whole event has been cancelled,” Griffiths said. “Now my sources are saying that there has been a lot of wrangling been going on behind the scenes and a lot of paranoia, a lot of fears that the fact that it (the event) had been reported might make it difficult or uncomfortable for Meghan and Harry to attend.”

Griffiths claimed there had been speculation behind the scenes that the Sussexes wanted their potential involvement kept “top secret”, raising questions over whether publicity surrounding their attendance contributed to the gala being scrapped. In a separate appearance on Palace Confidential, Griffiths shed further light on the delicate position The Diana Award occupies amid Harry and William’s fractured relationship.

“The Diana Award is the last remaining charity that both Harry and William are still patrons of,” she said. “I get a very clear impression, having worked on a lot of things to do with The Diana Award this summer, and speaking with them a lot, that they walk a very fine line when dealing with Harry and William. They take it in turns, the two brothers, to host events.”

William most recently attended an event for the organisation at London’s Truman Brewery in June, with Griffiths claiming the September gala would therefore have fallen on Harry’s side of the brothers’ informal arrangement. She said it was “technically Harry’s turn to host an event, or be involved in an event”, but claimed questions had emerged over whether Meghan would join him. “Harry naturally, I gather, wanted his wife there, but, for whatever reason, was always never going to happen. Meghan was not going to be involved in this event. And then, in the end, the whole event was cancelled yesterday – which is quite a major thing to do. Maybe The Diana Award is their last form of communication, because clearly The Diana Award would have to check any plans they have with Harry, with William, for example, ‘Is it ok if Harry brings his wife?’ Well, ‘possibly not’, if you’re Prince William.”

[From News 24 Australia]

Sigh… what a mess. Here’s the thing: I actually believe that there was a plan to have a fundraiser this month, and that Harry was originally scheduled to attend, and maybe at some point, Meghan wanted to go or Harry wanted to bring her. And I think those plans changed, and then the fundraiser was canceled. Now, is this all down to Harry’s paranoia? Or did William throw a messy tantrum over the very idea that Meghan would attend? Or was it all of the above? I said this before and I’ll say it again – I am going to be so disappointed if Meghan came all the way back to Trauma Blender Island only to hide away and never leave the house.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.