They say that the holidays are a time for coming together and expressing joy and fellowship. Unfortunately, it looks like this may not be possible for Prince William and Kate Middleton. The two recently faced a personal tragedy when a close friend of William’s unexpectedly died. And it looks like Harry and Meghan’s antics are continuing to make things worse for the Royal Family.
Who was it who died, and why was he so important to William? What are Harry and Meghan up to, and why does it have the rest of the royals concerned? Keep reading to find out!
Prince William loses a friend
In terms of social media, Prince William and Kate Middleton generally prefer to make announcements via Twitter. Very often, these announcements are of a happy nature. Recently, though, William took to Twitter to discuss the unexpected death of Mark Jenkins.
“Yesterday, I lost a friend, who dedicated his life to protecting wildlife in some of East Africa’s most renowned national parks,” William wrote. “Mark Jenkins, and his son Peter, were tragically killed when flying over Tsavo National Park while conducting an aerial patrol.”
For the most part, William has always embodied the “stiff upper lip” the British are known for. But in a follow-up tweet, he wasn’t afraid to express the depth of sentiment for his lost friend. “Tonight, I’m thinking about Mark’s wife, family and colleagues who’ve sadly lost a man we all loved and admired.”
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Who was Mark Jenkins to Prince William?
Prince William’s tweet to everyone by surprise. It was clear that Mark Jenkins meant a great deal to William. But just who was Jenkins, and what was his relationship to the future King of England?
It turns out that Jenkins is somebody that William met when the royal was taking a gap year before heading off to university. They formed a close-knit friendship at the time and have remained close friends ever since.
For context, keep in mind that William met Kate Middleton during college. Therefore, he has been friends with Mark for even longer than he has known Kate. And the long friendship may help to explain how much his death meant to the prince.
Leaving behind a powerful legacy
It looks like Prince William isn’t the only one who seriously misses Mark Jenkins. As reported by The Mirror, the Frankfurt Zoological Society wrote a living tribute to Jenkins and his various accomplishments.
“Mark was a lifelong conservationist and experienced bush pilot, who dedicated his career to protecting wildlife in some of East Africa’s most renowned national parks,” the society writes. “
“Passionate, principled, and strong-willed, Mark was never afraid to speak his mind and stand for what he believed in.
In glowing terms, the society goes on to describe how Jenkins “made an indelible impression wherever he went” and that he will always be remembered for “his determination, thoughtfulness, his energy, his mischievous smile, and his deep love of wildlife and wild places.”
Most tragically, Jenkins leaves behind a wife and son. They will likely honor and carry on his legacy, but the family will now always remember this holiday season as the one in which Jenkins died. Considering how William is now navigating his own family difficulties this holiday season, we can only imagine the prince wishes he could reach out to his friend for support one last time.
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A chilly Christmas for the family
Why else did William end up having a chilly Christmas this holiday season? As usual, nobody can give this man a “royal” headache quite so much as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Recently, King Charles decided to throw a royal Christmas shindig and invite quite a few people. As reported by Marie Claire, even Prince Andrew got an invite despite all of his recent controversies. Other royals were surprisingly invited, including Zara and Mike Tindall. Apparently, the idea is that the royals will all express unity by walking to the morning church service together.
According to The News, Harry and Meghan were invited to this celebration but turned down the invitation, which was enough to upset Charles, William, and many other royals. And their reasoning was simple: allegedly, the couple behind “Megxit” were worried about the family’s reaction to Harry & Meghan, their docuseries on Netflix.
Harry and Meghan’s Netflix show makes everything worse
It’s an open secret that William and Harry have been on the outs for a long time. Still, Charles and others seemed to hope they might be able to begin mending things over the holidays. Instead, it looks like Harry and Meghan’s Netflix show has made reconciliation impossible.
According to W Magazine, after Harry’s infamous Oprah interview, the very existence of a documentary series that airs more family drama is like a “thorn” in the prince’s side. It doesn’t help that Harry himself seems to admit in one of the episodes that things will never be the same between him and his brother. “I’ve had to make peace with the fact that we’re probably never gonna get genuine accountability or a genuine apology,” he said. “My wife and I, we’re moving on. We’re focused on what’s coming next.”
What would this be an apology for? In the docuseries, Harry alleges that his father lied to him, that his brother screamed in his face, and that most of the family was not very supportive of Meghan as she tried to adapt to royal life. Harry may well be telling the truth, but as far as William is concerned, his little brother is just airing even more dirty laundry.
Since Harry and Meghan won’t stop, it looks like things won’t get better anytime soon. And for the foreseeable future, the chill around Buckingham Palace has less to do with the weather outside and more to do with the icy tempest surrounding Prince William!
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