AAA<\/p>\n
Jo Elvin, a former magazine editor in Australia and the UK, is working as the co-host of the <\/b>The R<\/strong>oyals Uncensored<\/b><\/a> podcast on the Piers Morgan digital media network Uncensored. <\/b><\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Jo! Great to chat. I remember 10 years ago at lunch on Sydney\u2019s Insular Peninsula, having a strong conversation about the Australian republic with you. So if I hate myself for my level of interest in Harry and Meghan\u2019s return to the UK, you must positively despise yourself for being host of a weekly podcast dedicated to the royals and for whom this story is manna from heaven? How did that happen?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> [Explosive laughter.] I was working at the Mail on Sunday, and I was identified as somebody who could speak with a camera in their face, and they said, \u201cwe\u2019re going to do a regular show on the royals, and we want you to host it\u201d. And I said, \u201cBut I don\u2019t have any f\u2026s to give about the royals\u201d. And they said, \u201cThat\u2019s why we want you. A fresh look\u201d. I took it on in a curious, dispassionate, Aussie way. \u201dWhy do they have to be so rich?\u201c \u201cWhy do we have to bow and scrape?\u201d But tell me, Peter, \u2019cos I want to know: why are you so interested in them?<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Because on a long drive back to Sydney from the Hunter Valley a few years ago, my wife wanted to listen to the audiobook of Harry\u2019s book Spare<\/a> and, against my will, I had to listen. And though I did hate myself for it, I found myself liking Harry, and thought he made some bloody brilliant points, starting with the fact he found himself in a family where every member had their own press office, and they were all briefing against each other, including senior royals handing out, \u201cHere\u2019s why Meghan\u2019s a bitch\u201d cards with dot-points to curry favour and get better stories for their own Royal Highnesses-es-es-es. Talk about dysfunctional! Why wouldn\u2019t Harry want to do a runner out of Dodge to protect his wife and family in the face of that? Which begs the question, why on earth are they coming back?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> Well, that\u2019s the question on every royal expert\u2019s lips at the moment. But before we get to that, there\u2019s not one iota of contrition in Harry\u2019s book. Everything is everybody else\u2019s fault, and I\u2019ve got a real issue with that. I was speaking to a journalist at the Daily Mail once, and he said there were never trade-offs like that. He said, \u201cIf we were given both those stories, we\u2019d run them both\u201d.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> From the Daily Mail, I\u2019d believe it.<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> But the royals are very much, \u201cDon\u2019t complain, don\u2019t explain\u201d. And Harry\u2019s the one who\u2019s put himself right in the firing line with complaining and explaining, and changing his story so often that people are really confused about what is it that you want, Harry. Do you actually know what you want?<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> You\u2019re a journalistic royal heavyweight for the Piers Morgan group and far more genuinely knowledgeable about the inner workings of the royal family than 99.9 per cent of the population. So how do you know this stuff? Is Harry right? Does each member of the royal family have a person briefing you? Are you getting tip-offs?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> I personally don\u2019t talk to any people inside the palace. My job is as the moderator of the podcast, the ringmaster for all the people who do have those contacts. So I speak to people like royal correspondent Robert Jobson<\/a>; Grant Harold<\/a>, who used to be a butler for the royal family; Katie Nicholl<\/a>, who\u2019s been plugged in for years and is my co-host. There\u2019s definitely official spokespeople, and then there\u2019s valuable contacts. These are friends who \u2013 particularly in the case of the Sussexes, Pete \u2013 are very much encouraged to speak to the press for them. This is how outlets like People magazine, can quote \u201csomebody very close to the Sussexes\u201d more often than not.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> That, and People magazine making it up, but moving on. Is part of the job of the royal spokespeople to stir the pot?<\/p>\n Related Article JE:<\/strong> It\u2019s not about stirring the pot. The journalists stir the pot and the spokespeople try to set the record straight at every possible turn when a journalist writes something they say is wrong. Right now, most of the pot-stirring is coming from Camp Sussex. Nobody actually asked for the big fanfare and the big announcement about their return, and that didn\u2019t need to happen. But they\u2019re always trumpeting what they\u2019re doing. There\u2019s a piece in the Mail filled with imperious briefings from the Sussexes: saying you will not photograph Prince Archie on his first day of school, etc. The press is like, \u201cwe were never going to do that. Why do you even need to say it?\u201d<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> So for you, this return to Britain is just the latest stop on what South Park called the \u201cHarry and Meghan Worldwide Privacy Tour<\/a>\u201d. Is that it? \u201cHave grift, will grift. Happy to come to you to grift some more\u201d?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> Sort of, yes, even if I wouldn\u2019t put it quite so cynically, but definitely all the signs are there that the American Dream hasn\u2019t really worked out. Nothing has been as fruitful financially as the initial documentary where they talked about how dreadful it was to be part of the royal family. And now that the money in America seems to have dried up, they need that royal association in a country that still cares, to cash in that currency. But Harry seems to spend a lot of time acting like a royal, demanding what comes with being a frontline working royal, without wanting to work like one. I\u2019m not the only one who\u2019s confused.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Might Australia be the next stop on the Worldwide Royal Grifting Tour?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know what they\u2019d do there. And I can\u2019t see Meghan living in Australia. I love Australia, but it\u2019s a long way from where the action is in terms of showbiz or proximity to the royal family and the glamour that comes with that.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Do you think Harry is miserable? And what do you think he does at 9am on a Monday when the working week begins?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> I have asked many royal experts that very question myself. I think at the moment he\u2019ll be very busy with the Invictus Games<\/a>, with the countdown already on for that taking place next year. I think he\u2019s probably spending a lot of time with the children, and I think he spends many hours reading the acres of press on them, and briefing his own press team on what to whinge about.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Which brings us to Meghan. I remember being mesmerised by the 2018 wedding and the Most Reverend Michael Curry, the first black American presiding bishop of the US Episcopalian Church, giving some wonderfully down-home holy gospel in Westminster Abbey \u2013 as the Queen sat frozen and the English aristocracy looked at each other, gobsmacked. Was that the moment where the British establishment looked at Meghan, looked at Harry, and said, \u201cWe are done here. We\u2019ll play nice for a bit, but seriously, we are done.\u201d<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a fair reading. And it wasn\u2019t a race thing \u2013 it was a culture thing. The British royal family is so proper and buttoned up, and as I said, they \u201cnever complain, never explain, barely speak\u201d. I barely knew what the Queen\u2019s voice sounded like, and here we have an American doing his emotive, demonstrative, loud thing. That was the divide. I think the split started when the Wales and the Sussexes were on stage, suddenly dubbed \u201cThe Fab Four\u201d for a mental health charity event, and you could see Meghan\u2019s outspokenness on display, and her wanting to have a borderline political voice. I think that\u2019s where the discomfort grew in the press because there\u2019s been such a history of the royal family staying out of politics, staying out of being strongly opinionated, and that was when the cracks started appearing.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> I remember it being whispered to me by a London magazine editor \u2013 it might have been you? \u2013 that Meghan fancied herself as \u201cthe female Mandela\u201d?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> It was not me, and I\u2019ve never heard that, but it would not surprise me. She did want to change the world. But for her, the biggest problems started when rumours emerged of her treating staff badly at the palace. And I think she took the American idea of what celebrity means and thought it would apply to being a part of the British royal family \u2013 and it\u2019s not. Yes, there\u2019s a lot of money and tiaras, with armed security and fawning crowds, but it\u2019s also a lot of charity events and cutting ribbons, followed by cucumber sandwiches, and I think she just thought, \u201cJesus Christ, what is this!?!?\u201d<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> There was a piece we ran in the Herald on Tuesday, originating from the London Daily Telegraph, and the woman who wrote it basically said, \u201cOi, Sussexes, just naff off. Britain doesn\u2019t want you!\u201d<\/a> In your experience, is that a fair representation of the public\u2019s view?<\/p>\n Related Article JE:<\/strong> It is. The only royal less popular at the moment is the former Prince Andrew. But you will remember what a pariah Camilla was 30 years ago? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s out of the realms of possibility for Harry and Meghan to turn it around. But the way that will happen is for them to stop shouting at the press every five seconds. And you know, even in all the time they\u2019ve been in California, there hasn\u2019t been a lot of just going out there and performing acts of public service. It\u2019s all been about being on MasterChef and making jam on Instagram<\/a>. What the British public would like is a bit of: \u201cWe feel like we have been badly treated, but maybe we shouldn\u2019t have slagged off the entire royal family in an Oprah interview just as Prince Philip was dying in hospital.\u201d Something like that would be quite nice.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> OK, but I think I should tell you that, in an admittedly surprising development, I have just become Harry\u2019s press officer, and I\u2019m briefing you on the QT, and \u2026<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> [Laughing] That\u2019d be right!<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Well, he\u2019s done some fine work. We\u2019re going to have to make him a lifetime member of the Australian Republic Movement<\/a>. But as his press officer, how can my HRH be asked to be the one to apologise when the royal family has so many appalling things on their own record? Things like Camilla happily breaking bread with that horrible fellow Jeremy Clarkson on the very day Clarkson was quoted as saying in the British press, that he was \u201cdreaming of the day when [Meghan] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, \u2018Shame!\u2019 and throw lumps of excrement at her.\u201d But Harry\u2019s the one that\u2019s meant to apologise? What about when William, in a fit of pique, belted him? What about his allegation that Charles leaked to the press that he had arranged to have him admitted to drug rehab, just so Charles could look like an empathetic father?? My client is not the villain in your royal pantomime!<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> I will stand by my original assertion. I\u2019m an interested observer. I\u2019m not a cheerleader for anyone in this. But I agree the Jeremy Clarkson thing was shameful. And yet by that point, Harry had already been writing about what a monster Camilla was, so there\u2019s probably no love lost there. But I do think that William needs to find a way to contain the Harry and Meghan situation and have them inside the tent peeing out rather than outside the tent peeing in, for the sake of keeping that institution on the rails.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> No, we of the Australian Republic Movement want Harry to start early, go hard and finish late. It would be very good for our business. Meantime, we know Charles has cancer. Long live the king, etc, but what if he doesn\u2019t? Say he shuffles off both this mortal coil, and William ascends the throne before the decade is out? Would Harry attend the coronation, or is it that the two brothers simply cannot be in the same room as each other even when the room is as big as Westminster Abbey?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> Pete, this is the kind of thing that makes me hate myself for how invested I\u2019ve become. I hope Harry will be at that coronation, but William\u2019s got a lot of anger to work through until we get to that point. There\u2019s some people who think that the minute he\u2019s king, Harry will be stripped of his royal titles.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> So there\u2019s plenty more still to play out. Meantime, how are you going with Piers Morgan? Is he a nice man or a dipshit?<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> [Laughing.] I have known Piers for about 20 years. I think he is a nice man. He\u2019s got a great company that\u2019s growing, and it\u2019s really exciting to be part of something new.<\/p>\n Fitz.<\/strong> OK, and finally, let me hear you say, \u201cPete, long live the Australian republic!\u201d<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> Who are we putting in as head of state?<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> Some great Australian, not unlike current Governor-General Sam Mostyn.<\/p>\n JE:<\/strong> Maybe, but I\u2019ve come to like the continuity of the monarchy.<\/p>\n Fitz:<\/strong> OK, thanks, Jo. After the revolution, I\u2019ll step in and save you, but you\u2019re making it hard. Meanwhile, go, Prince Harry!<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Royal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/a2687f0a39933c5dc9ddbd650a2e969807c93210.jpeg\")
Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl (left) and Jo Elvin, do the podcast Royals Uncensored. <\/p>\n![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/f9aea4e989746c64c1a64a080733f65be99d2df3.jpeg\")
Prince Harry\u2019s candid memoir, Spare, was published in January 2023 and quickly became a record-breaking success.AP<\/p>\n![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788041732_920_5e2ac453a7de4e0d6478d41b075ff4b38f2c83a0.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e1ef5e7494856e87e36b3b142018dbc161758db5.jpeg\")
Harry and Meghan kiss after their wedding at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018.AP<\/p>\n![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d2948b5bc9df90a1459ab6e8289b599feabaea88.jpeg\")
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Peter FitzSimons<\/a> is a journalist and columnist with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a>.From our partners