is the prodigal son In fact about to return?
In a bombshell report, friends of Prince Harry tell the UK Times that he is seeking a “royal return to heal the rift with King Charles.” That he is willing to return to play a “temporary royal role” in supporting his father during his illness.
And, according to a royal source, Carlos has tentatively accepted the offer.
Could this be true, after all that has been said and done? Other sources say it’s out of the question.
Either way, one thing now seems possible: Harry can In fact I want to return somehow.
Would Charles soften here? Would he risk opening this opening?
If so, it would represent a massive tectonic shift in the Windsor dynamic: Charles hugging Harry and vice versa; Prince William remains furious and adamant; and Meghan… well, Meghan is practically not mentioned.
In a bombshell report, friends of Prince Harry tell the UK Times that he is seeking a “royal return to heal the rift with King Charles.” That he is willing to return to play a “temporary royal role” in supporting his father during his illness.
Could this be true, after all that has been said and done? Other sources say it’s out of the question.
A welcome from the Palace would be even more shocking given the events of last week: Harry rushed, allegedly without permission, from California to the United Kingdom to see Charles, who had just been diagnosed with cancer.
He flew 11,000 miles and spent 21 hours in the air for a meeting of just 30 minutes.
After their departure, Charles and Camilla flew by helicopter six minutes later, without even a decent break for optics.
Meanwhile, William completely refused to see him and sources close to the prince said he had “no plans” to reconcile. No more brothers.
Now, though, the Times’ royal source is suddenly ending years of estrangement. Harry’s return would “benefit the institution,” the source said.
‘On all practical levels, it makes perfect sense for the family to come together to support the King while he is ill. “There has been a lot of talk about both sides in recent years, but that has never diminished the fundamental blood bond.”
Let’s stop right there.
“A lot has been said on both sides” is a pretty generous statement. He acknowledges that for all of Harry and Meghan’s attacks, the Palace has also caused damage.
“There are now pragmatic aspects to consider,” the source continued, “with the well-being of the King and Kate paramount in this… the feeling is that this deal could work.”
Could it be like this… really? It is virtually impossible to imagine how the royal family, so constantly insulted, hurt and exploited by Harry and Meghan, could ever think of trusting him with a front-row seat again.
But that doesn’t mean he I can’t fantasize about the prospect.
Early last week I wrote that Harry, whose biggest self-proclaimed fear is that he has always been a “substitute” – that the royals don’t need him – must surely now realize that the opposite is true.
His father, 75 years old, is ill. His sister-in-law will be out of commission at least until after Easter. Her brother has returned to work earlier than expected, but he can’t manage a full schedule with Kate convalescing and three young children at home.
This slimmed-down monarchy desperately needs not only help but star power.
Perhaps Charles’s catastrophic diagnosis (no matter how treatable, cancer is terrifying) has shaken this wayward son.
It is virtually impossible to imagine how the royal family, so constantly insulted, hurt and exploited by Harry and Meghan, could ever think of trusting him with a front-row seat again. But that doesn’t mean he can’t fantasize about the prospect.
This slimmed-down monarchy desperately needs not only help but star power. Perhaps Charles’s catastrophic diagnosis (no matter how treatable, cancer is terrifying) has shaken this wayward son.
But the Times report is also notable for what it doesn’t say. Meghan barely gets a mention.
Charles has always said that the door is open for his son. Not, in particular, to Meghan.
Also curious is Meghan’s largely silent presence in Canada this week, as Harry promotes next year’s Invictus Games.
It was Harry alone who spoke to ‘Good Morning America’ on Friday and, admittedly, his interview gave no hint of an actual return.
But he was classic Harry: at times confused, conciliatory, provocative and resentful.
Even as he discussed his father’s illness and showed rare discretion by saying that such information would remain “between him and me” and that he planned to visit Charles frequently, Harry also said he was considering becoming an American citizen.
Such statements are almost schizophrenic. It’s in keeping with Harry and Meghan clinging to their royal titles while slinging mud and revealing secrets and allowing their de facto spokesperson, Omid Scobie, to brand Charles and Kate “racists.”
Will this damage ever be repaired?
And if this delicate repatriation really has been in the works for the past two weeks, why would Harry and Meghan relaunch their website and link it to SussexRoyal.com, a domain the Queen had ordered closed?
Why would they lash out at the slightest provocation?
“They continue to work and pursue what they believe in, despite being constantly challenged and criticized,” their camp said Thursday. This was in response to suggestions that Invictus’ trip was decisive for their brand.
‘This couple will not break up.’
Wow, what an overreaction. That actually sounds like a super defensive, overcompensating thing a couple who’s really struggling would say.
Without a doubt, the tensions that Harry and Meghan have suffered, no matter how self-created, would test the strongest marriage.
Meghan must ask herself: where is she in all of this?
Perhaps she’s content to pursue her Hollywood ambitions while Harry is away. Maybe she will finally understand that her only currency is proximity to the King and Queen, and that now is the time to make peace.
If that means you sit down and shut up… for once! – better. We would all benefit from that.
The real breakup is with William, who – in my opinion – made it quite clear last week that under his reign there would be no turning back.
However, if only Harry takes over the royal mantle, Meghan returns to Montecito and does everything she can to regain her brother’s trust, could they slowly find their way to a fragile truce? Does William even want one?
The Times report is also notable for what it does not say. Meghan barely gets a mention. She may be content to pursue her Hollywood ambitions while Harry is away. She may finally understand that her only currency is proximity to the King and Queen.
The real breakup is with William, who – in my opinion – made it quite clear last week that under his reign there would be no turning back. However, if Harry does everything he can to regain his brother’s trust, can they slowly find their way to a fragile truce?
As the late Queen told Harry and Meghan, there was no way for them to be “half in, half out.”
But that, according to the Times report, sounds like exactly what is proposed: that Harry return from time to time to fulfill duties that Charles or William cannot.
And Camila? After last week’s rushed summit, sources said Harry demanded that Camilla not be in the room.
Others, however, tell the Times that the Queen was there.
Could Camilla really forgive the terrible things Harry has said about her (he wrote in ‘Spare’ that he and William begged Charles not to marry her, he told another interviewer that she was ‘dangerous’ and that he had ‘ left bodies in the street’) if a Would reconciliation make Charles happy?
It would certainly make Harry happy too, or as happy as he is capable of being.
Even the challenge of winning back the British people, actively asking for their forgiveness and goodwill, could prove strangely rewarding.
The California experiment has been a struggle. Seriously: How does Harry fill his days?
The memoirs are written, Netflix was a complain fest and ‘South Park’ made H&M a laughingstock.
What Harry really needs is rehabilitation of his reputation.
Returning to save the day, a rapprochement with his father and possibly, later, his brother, that’s something Harry would surely enjoy, whether the Palace would ever allow it or not.
“I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” Harry told Oprah in that infamous interview. That was, he said, until he met Meghan.
Three years later, one wonders: How trapped could he feel in Montecito? How much more freedom could there be, ironically, in claiming his birthright?