Prince Harry is said to harbour deep regrets about the choices that led to his estrangement from the royal family, but any hope of a return to the fold has been dismissed as “inconceivable” by royal commentators as he and Meghan approach their eighth wedding anniversary.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who married at Windsor Castle on 19 May 2018, will mark eight years together this week.
Since then, the couple have built a new life in Montecito, California, trading the structures of royal duty for a more independent, commercially driven existence, raising their two children, Archie and Lilibet, far from the Windsor world they left behind.
Does Prince Harry regret leaving the royal family?
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, described the path that brought Harry to California as “destructive” and said he believed the Duke had never intended to end up so far removed from his family and homeland.
Fitzwilliams said he believed Harry was now actively seeking to rebuild bridges. “I think Harry would like, depending on the security decision which we still await, closer ties with Britain and certainly with his father and with his friends,” he said.
He also questioned the Duke’s current standing, adding: “I cannot believe it would be satisfactory, if it remains satisfactory, that he is so often an extra in (Meghan’s Netflix) cookery show.”
Harry has not seen his father, King Charles, since last September, a reunion that had itself followed a 19-month gap between meetings. The Duke is said to have floated the idea of appearing alongside the King at the opening of the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, an event he is expected to attend. Whether Meghan will join him remains uncertain, reports GB News.
Fitzwilliams pointed to Birmingham as evidence of Harry’s desire to mend his relationship with his father. “If he didn’t (regret his decisions), we wouldn’t have Birmingham coming up next year,” he said. “We wouldn’t have the plan so obvious to try and in one way or another to persuade King Charles to open (the door to a return).”
Will Prince Harry ever return to the royal family?
A second commentator was equally convinced that Harry’s regrets were genuine, but equally clear that a way back was firmly closed.
Rafe Haydel-Mankoo, speaking on GB News, said: “I think it’s quite clear that Prince Harry has many regrets about the life choices that have ended up with him being estranged from his homeland and from his family and from the role he most enjoyed: being a royal prince.”
Haydel-Mankoo argued that Harry’s recent overseas engagements, including a trip to Australia with Meghan last month and a surprise visit to Ukraine, were an attempt to replicate the sense of purpose he once found as a working royal.
“I think that’s why you’re seeing him essentially trying to play the role of a prince in exile, with these pseudo-royal tours, as we’ve seen in Australia and Ukraine,” he said.
“I think he realises that the fulfilment he got from those hasn’t been matched by anything he’s done in America. And I think he’s also realised, and they’ve both realised, that their prominence, their status, depends on their proximity to the royal family.
“The more removed they are from the royal world and royal engagements, the less people are interested in them as people. And that’s why they are clearly making more of an effort to style themselves and carry on activities as if they were still working members of the royal family.”
Haydel-Mankoo suggested the Australia and Ukraine trips were designed to signal to the royal family that Harry remained “capable of working as a functioning royal” in the hope that “at some point a door will be open to him.”
But he was unequivocal about the prospects. “There’s a world of difference between what Harry hopes will happen and what has any chance of happening,” he said.
“It’s inconceivable that either the King or the Prince of Wales would ever open a door to Harry to return to the royal fold.”