Prince Harry has no chance of returning to the royal fold as a working member, according to a royal author who has written a new book about King Charles III. Robert Hardman, who interviewed the King and several members of the royal family for his book, said that the “ship has sailed” for Harry to resume his royal duties, and that any attempt to do so would be “unsurvivable” due to the media and public scrutiny.
According to Gbnews, Hardman said that the King would love to have Harry back in the family, but not as a working royal. He said that the King was aware of the difficulties that Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, faced in the UK, and that he never expressed any anger or resentment towards them for their decision to step back as senior royals in January 2020.
However, Hardman also said that Harry had alienated himself from the royal family and the British public by his repeated attacks on Camilla, the Queen Consort, whom he accused of “sacrificing” him on her “personal PR altar” in order to “rehabilitate” her image after her affair with Prince Charles. Hardman said that Harry had “complex feelings” about Camilla, and that he even wanted her to be happy, but that he also blamed her for the breakdown of his parents’ marriage and the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
Hardman said that Harry’s relationship with his brother William, the Prince of Wales, was also strained, and that their mother would be “heartbroken” by the rift between them. He said that Harry had felt “trapped” and “marginalised” by the royal system, and that he had sought to escape it by moving to California with Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
Hardman said that Harry had tried to carve out a new role for himself as a global celebrity and activist, but that he had also faced criticism and controversy for his lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify, his tell-all memoir Spare, and his outspoken views on issues such as the environment, mental health, and the media. Hardman said that Harry had become a “polarising figure” in the US and the UK, and that he had lost the respect and affection of many of his former fans and supporters.
Hardman said that Harry’s chances of reconciling with his family and his country were slim, and that he did not know if Harry wanted to re-engage with them. He said that the door was always open for Harry on this side of the Atlantic, but that there was a third party that would make it impossible for him to return as a working royal. He said that the media and the public would not accept Harry’s hybrid role of being both a royal and a private citizen, and that they would scrutinise and criticise his every move.
Hardman said that the only way for Harry to mend the fences with his family and his country was to gradually normalise his visits to the UK, and to have private interactions with his relatives and friends. He said that Harry should also tone down his attacks on the royal family and the British institutions, and focus on his charitable work and his personal life. He said that Harry should realise that he was still a part of the royal family, and that he had a duty and a responsibility to uphold its values and traditions.
