Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have been the subject of global headlines in recent months after their six-part Netflix documentary series hit screens and amid the fallout from Harry’s tell-all memoir. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have revealed unprecedented insight into the Royal Family, sharing behind-the-scenes tidbits and speaking openly about the splintered relations behind Palace walls. In doing so, they have provoked a backlash from some of their critics, with Piers Morgan and Candace Owens slamming the couple for detailing their rift with the UK-based royals. Now, however, a royal author has claimed the Sussexes risk losing some of their “staunch supporters”.
Omid Scobie, the author of Finding Freedom who is often referred to as a friend of the Duke and Duchess, has pointed out that Harry and Meghan have put themselves in a “risky spot”.
Speaking on last week’s episode of the Royally Obsessed podcast, the journalist noted the Sussexes’ huge media projects being released in a relatively short space of time.
Asked by hosts Rachel Bowie and Roberta Fiorito whether he thought people were experiencing fatigue from the Sussexes, Mr Scobie said: “In many ways, how can a regular person not have Sussex fatigue at this point? I almost feel it’s like my duty to follow it every step of the way, but I can understand how general members of the public have just had enough of hearing about the royal dramas in general.”
“I sympathise with the Sussexes in some ways, because they’re only now getting to join the story at this very late stage,” he continued. “For many years, they weren’t able to share their side. They watched others try and tell versions of it or they sat back and watched things reported about them that they didn’t agree with or didn’t feel were a fair representation of themselves.
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It has been reported that the Royal Family may hold peace talks with Harry and Meghan before the Coronation of King Charles III in May.
“The only way forward” is for the estranged royals to reconcile, sources close to the family told The Sunday Times earlier this month.
Harry and Meghan, who have lived in California since the summer of 2020, have only returned to the UK on a handful of occasions, but many expect them to attend the King’s crowning at Westminster Abbey — if they are invited.
“It’s going to take flexibility on all sides, but it can be done. It’s fixable,” said a source close to the King. “It needs Harry over here, in the room with the King and Prince of Wales and a couple of other family members.”
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They continued: “Both sides need to hold their hands up and admit we didn’t get everything right, and we got a lot wrong, and we have to say to him, ‘We understand the pain you’ve been through.’ The King can do it.”
During his interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Harry said he is “looking forward” to reconciling with his father, brother and other family members. He claimed he is hoping he can have a “private” and “constructive conversation” with them in the future.
“Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologize for anything that we did wrong,” the Duke said. “But every time we ask that question, no one’s telling us the specifics or anything.”
“I really look forward to having that family element back,” he continued. “I look forward to having a relationship with my brother. I look forward to having a relationship with my father and other members of my family.”
The sit-down came just days ahead of the release of Harry’s memoir, Spare, in which the Duke chronicled the breakdown of his relationship with Prince William, detailing private moments between him and his older brother.
While Harry is hopeful for a reconciliation, Mr Scobie has claimed the “dust is yet to settle” and plans for a peacemaking meeting are yet to be confirmed. “This possibility that Charles might be the driving force behind some conciliatory moment, I actually heard from Palace sources…that there’s no truth in that story,” he said.
“They were really surprised that this story had gone out there because no conversation has actually gone that far. They felt that maybe it was more of a projection of how people around members of the Royal Family feel it might go, but it’s not based on anything that family members have said privately,” the author continued.
“And I know on the Sussexes’ side, they certainly aren’t aware of any kind of conversations like that.”
