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Privacy Notice Just days before Prince Harry is expected to land on UK soil for a charity event – without Meghan Markle – a royal expert claims there could be another crisis looming for the Royal Family. With the visit coming amid swirling speculation about Harry’s role in the Firm, royal expert and biographer Tom Bower tells OK! he believes the Sussexes could still cause more angst for the family. “I think there is a crisis on the way,” he said. “They will know they’re not desperately in need of money at this very moment but they constantly have to think about how they’re going to plan for the future. “I think Harry has got another book, the ghost writer said there was enough material for another book. And of course Meghan has got a book, which would be infinitely more damaging than anything they’ve written so far. The problem is how desperate will the Sussexes become? There is always this ticking time bomb because they have much more they could say, especially Meghan about her time in London. Her own words would be hugely profitable for her and likely very damaging [to the royal family] because she’s only got bad things to say.”
Tom says there could be trouble ahead for the royal family
(Image: Archewell Foundation via Getty Images)
The spotlight was firmly on the younger royal brother when he celebrated his 40th birthday on September 15, especially when it came to the public ‘Happy Birthday’ messages from his family. A few days before the big day, Harry released a statement saying his mission was “to continue showing up and doing good in the world”. He also declared his love for his kids, Prince Archie, five, and two-year-old Princess Lilibet, adding: “Becoming a father of two incredibly kind and funny kids has given me a fresh perspective on life, as well as sharpening my focus in all my work. Being a dad is one of life’s greatest joys and has only made me more driven and more committed to making this world a better place.” While no-one would argue that his words were heartfelt, there was one obvious omission from the statement – Meghan. She also didn’t acknowledge the occasion publicly, unlike his brother Prince William and Kate Middleton. Following the lead of King Charles and Queen Camilla, they wrote, “Wishing a happy 40th birthday to the Duke of Sussex!” on their official Twitter (X) account. But Tom says we shouldn’t read too much into the posts – or lack of – especially when it comes to Harry’s wife, as he believes they’re very unlikely to separate, despite all the speculation. “For William and Kate to wish him Happy Birthday, it cost them nothing and if they didn’t do it, it would look churlish, as if they were holding a nasty grudge,” he said. “So it was so much better to wish him happy birthday and ignore him. That’s what they’ve really done. It was a perfunctory administrative act which served the purpose of them not looking bad, but it didn’t mean a thing.”
Kate and William reposted the King and Queen’s birthday message to Prince Harry
“With Meghan, I don’t think one should read much into whether she wished him public happy birthday. I don’t believe they’re about to separate. I think Meghan needs him because without him she hasn’t got status, and he needs her because he’s a needy person. He’s nothing in California without her. “She’s terribly happy in California, she’s a Californian girl and she never wanted to live in London and he was very pleased to be rescued from it. So, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. She is the person who fixes everything and their friendships are through her and Harry won’t leave Meghan because he has nowhere else to go.” The talk of Harry wanting to return to the UK as a working, or at least semi-working, royal has reached fever pitch this year, four years after the pair departed for their new life in the US. His various visits over here – including his visit to King Charles, 75, following his cancer announcement in February, and the Invictus Games ceremony shortly after – added fuel to the fire, especially as he’s made it very clear he fears for Meghan’s safety in Britain. While Meghan’s feet are thought to be planted firmly in California and she’s powering ahead with her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand, royal watchers have voiced suspicions that Harry is hankering for his old life. However, Tom says it’s not as simple as that, and Harry is happy living in the States but is trying to work out how to what extent he’d be allowed and welcomed back into the fold. “Harry is beginning to realise the problems, which is he hasn’t got anything to do and he’s frustrated,” he told us. “He likes living in California and he doesn’t really want to come back to Britain but he wants a role in Britain.
The couple are raising their two children in Montecito, California
(Image: alexilubomirski/Instagram)
“They realise how deeply unpopular they are here and they have a waning interest in America, people are less and less interested. He’s coming back more and more because he’s testing the water and he wants to look relevant here, and he has nothing to do in America. I think he is increasingly lonely.” And despite the couple’s loathing of the media – which the Duke once described as “the devil” – Tom says Harry needs the attention to stay relevant and have any chance whatsoever of being accepted back to Britain. “The hints that he wants to come back, which he denies, are all testing the waters,” he said. “I’m sure he’s not coming back. I think that they want exactly what they weren’t allowed to do – half in, half out. They’re looking for a purpose and they can’t find it. Some might see it as being part of the royal family but I don’t think William will allow that. You have to remember how rude Harry was about Camilla, and that was critical. Harry seems to think his family should apologise to him, he thinks he’s been badly treated by the family. But they don’t owe him an apology. Harry’s anger with William is petulant and juvenile now.” While Harry has been the one making the headlines over the last few months, Meghan has been noticeably quieter and remained very much under the radar. It’s likely given the royal family a much-needed break from the slew of revelations from their Oprah Winfrey and Netflix shows, plus Harry’s Spare biography, but Tom suspects there’s more bombshells to come. With the couple needing to fund their lifestyle and the demands of having a family, they need to find a source of funds – and with Harry reportedly banking an eye-watering $20million advance for Spare, another book or two could be appealing, Tom says but they would come at a cost.
Harry’s autobiography was released in January 2023
(Image: Getty Images)
Meghan’s previous bombshells include the race row that erupted over her claims to Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that an unnamed member of the royal family expressed concerns about “how dark [Archie’s] skin might be when he’s born”, and her recollection of being blocked by Palace aids from seeking help for her declining mental health. Combined with Harry’s revelations in Spare about his damaged relationship with his brother, and some shocking comments about Camilla, calling her “dangerous” and accusing her of sacrificing him on her own “personal PR altar”, the damage already done seems almost insurmountable. “The problem is he’s an important part of the British royal family and the royal family does have a crisis because with the Queen’s death, there is a permanent hole in the whole image,” Tom said. “It’s not Charles’s fault, but he cannot fill the hole left by the Queen. And when you count his illness too, they’re thin on the ground. But I don’t see Harry in any way taking his place back. He has said such terrible things and written such terrible things about Kate, William and Camilla and his own father. “Harry would like to have a status here, but he’s not going to get it. There is just too much bad blood, he has caused far too much trouble.”
King Charles was visited by Prince Harry earlier year after announcing he had cancer
(Image: Getty Images)
But on a more personal level, there’s no doubt heartache on both sides over the way the family has split, especially the decimated relationship between William and Harry, who were once thick as thieves. William and Kate’s children – Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, also have virtually no relationship with their Californian cousins and are believed to have only met on a handful of occasions. Tom says there’s genuine sadness on both Harry and Meghan’s sides over the virtually non-existent bond with their British family. “Harry has no family, and Meghan has no family other than her mother really. There’s no cousins, uncles, aunts, or grandparents. It’s a pretty empty life and Harry, of all people, knows the importance of family “At the beginning, with the excitement of being in America, it’s easy to forget your family. But now he might sit in his garden thinking, ‘Here I am all alone and no one cares about me’. While Harry lost his mother and his father was often absent, he had a brother and there were so many people around to care for him, his family on his mother’s side and a huge network of family friends. His school also provided a huge network of mothers and families who had him for weekends, he wasn’t without affection or relationships. But his children haven’t got that. There’s nobody equivalent to the uncles and aunts and grandparents in America for his children.”
Tom says Kate and William have more important things to consider than Harry and Meghan
(Image: Getty Images)
When Kensington Palace released Kate’s incredibly intimate cancer update video earlier this month, in which she revealed she’d completed her preventive chemotherapy after “an incredibly tough” nine months, her words about having a “new perspective” caused some to speculate that it indicated the door may finally be slightly ajar for Harry and Meghan to be welcomed back into the Firm. But Tom says that’s very unlikely, as the next-in-line to the thrones have more important things to concentrate on than Harry and Meghan. “I just don’t think that he features in how they imagine their life ahead,” he said. “They’re preparing to be King and Queen and the strains are enormous, the last thing they care now about is Harry’s problems, that’s irrelevant.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnCamillaKate MiddletonMeghan MarkleOprah WinfreyPrince GeorgePrince HarryPrince LouisPrince WilliamPrincess Charlotte
