Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been urged to make one move to “heal their rift” with the Royal Family as the Firm battles an “extremely difficult period”.
The duo, exiled in California since mid-2020, have drawn comparisons to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for trying to balance making money from their royal links and actively “attacking” the family back in Britain.
But in order to repair some strained relations, the Sussexes have been told to “say something positive” about the family if they want to make in-roads back into the fold.
Former International Who’s Who editor and royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams warned that the upcoming paperback release of Prince Harry’s controversial memoir, Spare, could fall at a troublesome time – and risks inflaming the divisions within the family.
Prince Harry, photographed at the WellChild Awards on Monday evening
PA
He wrote in the Express: “They must surely be the only royal couple in the world to monetise their royal connections as well as attacking the Firm over a period of years.”
On Harry, Fitzwilliams continued: “As if to remind the world of how bitter he still is, the paperback version of his memoir, Spare, is published in Britain on October 24 when King Charles and Queen Camilla will be attending CHOGM in Samoa.
“This is the monarch’s first visit abroad since his cancer diagnosis and a trip of the highest importance.”
But the royal commentator also raised fears about content which was removed from the scathing autobiography.
LATEST ON THE SUSSEXES:
Charles and Camilla will visit Australia and Samoa in October for a Commonwealth summit
GETTY
“Harry revealed that he had cut 400 pages from it as they were too toxic,” he wrote.
“This was clearly a threat to the royal family, indicating that one day they might be published.”
But Fitzwilliams also credited both Harry and Meghan’s sizeable catalogue of charity work.
In recent days, Harry has stepped out in London for a poignant appearance at the WellChild awards, which honours seriously ill children in the UK and the professionals who support them.
He has also been in Lesotho to promote the work of his youth charity, Sentebale, alongside the landlocked country’s Prince Seeiso.
GETTY
“If they really believe what they preach, why don’t they say something positive publicly about the Royal Family?” Fitzwilliams asked
GETTY
But with Harry focusing on his own work for good, “there will continue to be enormous interest” in whether he “will take any steps towards reconciling the rift which has been so damaging – to the Royal Family and also to the Sussexes”, Fitzwilliams wrote.
He continued: “With King Charles and the Princess of Wales both battling cancer, it is a extremely difficult period for the institution.
“The royals, with good reason, do not trust them… Harry and Meghan preach ‘joy’, but despite their admirable charitable work, their unpredictability, which often manifests itself in hostility, gives their actions a Jekyll and Hyde flavour.
“If they really believe what they preach, why don’t they say something positive publicly about the Royal Family? It just might work wonders in helping to heal their rift with it,” Fitzwilliams concluded.
