Prince Harry may have been able to heal the wounds with the Royal Family if he had sought some help from one of its most hardworking members, a royal expert claims. Seasoned bombshell dropper Harry has seen relations with his family grow increasingly strained since he and wife Meghan Markle left the UK and ditched their roles as working royals in February 2021.
A tell-all interview with US chat show goddess Oprah Winfrey followed a month later, along with a Netflix documentary in December 2022, and then the release of the Duke of Sussex’s warts-and-all memoir, Spare, in January 2023. Criticism within the pages of the memoir was aimed at his father King Charles, his brother Prince William, sister-in-law Princess Kate, and his step-mother the Queen, leaving a huge rift in the Windsor household which is seemingly not healed to this day.
However, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes Prince Harry may have stood a chance of healing the wounds of airing the family’s dirty laundry in public if he had consulted with one key member of the Firm.
Ms Bond told the Mirror: “Yes, (Princess) Anne would have been the perfect person to offer advice and guidance, but, sadly, this is no longer relevant as Harry has made it quite clear that he has no desire to return to life as a working royal.
“She could have told her nephew that ‘playing second fiddle’ is the wrong way to look at his status. Instead, as she has shown, the second-born can be an invaluable support to the institution of monarchy, and a vital friend, confidant and wingman/woman to the monarch.
“She could have explained that they are a team – a firm – working together to keep the monarchy relevant and using their platform to help charities and communities.”
But with Harry revealing earlier this year that the King is no longer speaking to him, Ms Bond does not believe that the Princess Royal would want to get involved in potential peace talks.
She explained: “It may be that the King has discussed his family troubles with Anne, but I rather doubt that she would want to get involved.
“To Anne, loyalty is paramount, and I suspect she feels that Harry has been extremely disloyal to his father, his brother and the monarchy. She might well find that hard to forgive.”