Will Harry and Meghan’s visit to the UK sprout the green shoots of a renewed relationship with the Royal Family? That is the question on everyone’s lips.
The announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to bring their children Archie and Lilibet on a trip to Harry’s homeland next month, for the first time in four years, has caused quite a stir in royal circles.
Harry and Meghan will travel from California with their children when the couple return to attend the celebrations marking a one-year countdown to next year’s Invictus Games in Birmingham. It should go without saying that Harry’s Olympics-style sporting initiative, enabling injured service personnel to compete at the highest level against a united nations field, has been his crowning achievement.
Its return to the UK for the first time since its inception in 2014, after travelling the globe in places such as Toronto, Sydney and The Hague, is something to be celebrated.
Yet the background noise has been filled with Harry engaging in a very public battle against the British government over the decision to strip him of his taxpayer funded security after he and Meghan quit their royal roles in 2020.
Months of hearings at the High Court and after a devastating decision that again did not go his way, Harry took his grievance to the Court of Appeal.
When that didn’t work he turned to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to plead for a review, with the Duke reiterating his position that the UK is not a safe place to bring his wife and children – unless he has access to taxpayer-funded security guards.
Let us firstly address the facts in all of this. Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family after presenting life within the confines of the monarchy as intolerable.
That decision to leave has netted them tens of millions of pounds when they launched their brand into the corporate world. The streaming giants came calling, with incredibly lucrative deals from Netflix and Spotify landing almost as soon as the wheels of their private jet touched down in California.
Yet Harry and Meghan’s initial currency, at least in the eyes of the billionaire tech giants, delivering a series of verbal assaults and outrageous accusations of mistreatment by the royal family, soon dried up.
The documentary deals were shifted, the podcasts dried up leaving Harry and Meghan, in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of the British public, on the wrong side of history.
Harry has at least been consistent in his constant attacks on the Royal Family, accusing them of racism, bullying, indifference and being out of touch with the modern world. All nicely packaged up for millions of dollars for an Oprah Winfrey appearance and a Penguin book deal.
After airing his dirty laundry in public, the tables have turned. Harry has spoken of reconciliation and now – after an incredible U-turn from the government – it appears he will be able to bring his family on a trip “home” at the expense of the British taxpayer paying for their security detail.
I understand the Home Secretary has agreed to an ad-hoc arrangement, whereby Harry with due notice can apply for such an arrangement when visiting the UK.
But here’s the thing – this has always been the case. Harry could have saved himself a lot of heartache, not to mention millions in lawyers’ fees, to be in exactly the same position.
So it now begs the question, will Harry take Meghan and the children to see his ailing father? The King, despite everything thrown at him, still loves his son dearly.
He would give anything to see his grandchildren more and have a relationship with them beyond video calls and the odd letter or birthday card. Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, last saw their grandfather Charles in person at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
Lilibet was just one at the time so will surely have no recollection of such a meeting. Meghan has not set foot in the UK, apart from the odd Heathrow Terminal transfer, since the late Queen’s funeral.
This is without question a monumental time since the dark days of Harry and Meghan’s very public fallout with the Royal Family.
While there has been no official confirmation, I understand the King would aim to see the Sussexes if his incredibly busy diary, performing state duties which Harry and Meghan abandoned, allows. If it happens, it will no doubt be an emotional meeting for the King to see his grandchildren, who he loves dearly.
Whether it paves the way to continued reconciliation between the two families, is probably up to Harry and Meghan to stop running roughshod over the relatives they left behind.
There will, however, be no chance of such a meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales, who remain deeply wounded by Harry and Meghan’s hurtful accusations and behaviour since they departed. Time is of course a great healer, but perhaps there is not enough time in the world to heal those wounds.
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