Prince Harry has offered a glimpse into his “ridiculous” vision of a royal comeback after cozying back up to King Charles, according to two royal experts.
“Forget the freedom flight... forget him needing an apology,” author Paula Froelich said in a new episode of The Royalist podcast. “That’s all water under the bridge.”
Over the weekend, a source close to the Duke of Sussex told The Times that Harry, who abandoned his role as a working royal in 2020 and repeatedly suggested his family owed him and Meghan an apology, would return “more and more” to the U.K. after apparently coming away pleased with his family reunion with Charles last month.
“The template for his visits has been working well, so the frequency of trips will increase,” the source said.
“The way the wind is blowing, he’s going to want to be here more and more. He’s happy these trips can now have more focus on the patronages and be less obscured by the other nonsense. He wants more of a foothold here, more trips back, less courtroom drama. And he always loves seeing his family.”
Tom Sykes, the Daily Beast’s royal expert and European editor-at-large, picked apart the source’s statement, noting that it “got people laughing.”
“The template for the visits has been working well,” Sykes repeated. “I mean, what’s been working well about it?”
Harry’s U.K. trip nearly fell apart after the 41-year-old prince announced at the last minute that he was reconsidering the visit because British authorities had rejected his request for a security package from the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC). He ultimately made the trip without RAVEC protection.
Froelich added: “What’s the template? ‘Daddy’s always offered me Buckingham Palace, I’ve always said no because it’s not safe enough. But then I found out, OK, it could be safe enough, but then I’ll go and complain about RAVEC again.’ That’s the template.”
“I think the new template is Hotel Buckingham Palace,” she continued. “Get the free guards and then maybe take a daddy trip up to go see daddy.”
Sykes said he was “struck” by the source’s remarks about “nonsense” and “courtroom drama.”
“It seems to be trying to imply that... these are all things that have sort of been forced upon Harry, when in fact, you know, he is the prime instigator in both the nonsense and the courtroom dramas,” he said.
While Harry was in the U.K., a British judge dismissed every claim in a lawsuit he and six celebrity co-claimants had brought against the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, ending his costly six-year war with the British tabloids.
Noting Harry’s unpopularity among the British public, Sykes said that Charles, 77, and Prince William, 44, have different ideas about Harry’s apparent reemergence into royal life.
“People need to understand the depth of Charles’s desire to reconcile with Harry at any cost,” Sykes said, before adding that William “totally” disagrees.
“William’s very clear. You don’t let them anywhere near the monarchy.”
The Sussex office and Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Join veteran royal correspondent Tom Sykes in the throne room to find out how the secret world of the palace really operates—every bit of royal tea you could need. New Royalist podcasts will be released every Tuesday on YouTube, and the next day on all podcast platforms.
