The Duke of Sussex has just had a blistering 72 hours, the likes of which he is not likely to forget any time soon.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a ‘desperation to be taken…

‘To Di For’ podcast host Kinsey Schofield says the one thing that’s seen a lot from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is “almost a desperation to be taken seriously” in the States.

You might have heard of ‘panda diplomacy’ so today I present you with ‘sweet-tooth statesmanship’.

The all-bells and whistles non-royal, royal-adjacent wedding of the Duke of Westminster in Chester in England’s north over the weekend necessitated, for security reasons, the closing of streets, and so to do his lord bountiful bit, His Grace laid on free ice cream for the entire city.

It’s hard to complain about being put out with a mouthful of mint choc chip.

Maybe he should have extended his sugary largesse a bit further afield because the duke’s chum, one Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has just endured what one could officially term, a real bummer of a weekend.

What, I ask you, is the best flavour to cheer up a man facing a brother rubbing his elevation in his face, his friends hardly rushing to rally to his side, a charity of which he is president facing new, devastating allegations and clouds over a mooted Netflix project?

Somehow a solo scoop of vanilla is not just going to cut it.

Let’s begin things here on the beaches of France where, last week, every world leader worth their official NATO travel mug gathered to mark 80-years since the D-Day landings on 6 June.

With King Charles still being treated for cancer it was Prince William who got to play international statesman alongside a bunch of heads of state – people who have nuclear launch codes and whose power extends beyond vetoing acts for the Royal Variety Show – including President Joe Biden and President Emannuel Macron.

So on 6 June, with Harry back in California muttering to himself “service is universal”, it was his older brother and sometimes “arch nemesis” William who was getting to have a good long go at strutting his stuff on the world stage.

Britain’s Prince William (L) shaking hands with US President Joe Biden. Picture: Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (centre left) and Britain’s Prince William. Picture: Jordan Pettitt – Pool/Getty Images

Meanwhile it’s now two years since Harry’s last attempt at international statesmanning at his partially-attended UN speech. Whether invitations to such global gathering as Davos or Sun Valley or Google Camp have been issued to Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex in recent years, they have not been in attendance.

Rubbing Maldon salt into the wound was the Prince of Wales’ choice to wear a striped Army Air Corps (AAC) tie to the Normandy event, after having been made colonel-in-chief of the AAC by King Charles last month. The real sting here lies in the fact that Harry trained as an Apache pilot with the AAC and the colonelcy of this outfit, in another lifetime, would have most likely gone to Harry.

William’s tie, as the Sunday Times’ Roya Nikkhah pointed out, “carried a subtle but significant message”.

How must it have felt for Harry to watch his brother wearing the tie of his old military outfit, flying the flag for the country that he has actually gone to war to serve, twice? It’s the picture that must surely represent his worst nightmare.

William wearing the subtly controversial tie. Picture: Jordan Pettitt – Pool/Getty Images

Of all the major events and milestone moments that Harry has missed in recent years while he licks his wounds on the West Coast and disconsolately makes his way through another slice of avocado toast, this D-Day outing was the one where his absence felt most conspicuous.

At a moment all about honouring the unthinkable courage and bravery of servicepeople, the omission of the one member of Crown Inc who has also shown such courage and bravery felt strangely hollow.

Then came Saturday, as the populace of Chester licked their melting waffle cones, the Duke of Westminster got hitched. William was front and centre again here, this time on usher duty and proving that even a future King is not above being transported in a minibus on occasion.

Again, this was a scene that could and should have involved Harry. The Duke of Westminster, or ‘Hughie’ as he is known, is reportedly one of the few people who has managed to hold onto their friendship with both the prince and the duke even after the Big Buckingham Palace Bang of 2020 aka Megxit. Not only is Hughie a godfather to Prince George but to Prince Archie too.