Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are ‘Doing Nothing to Bridge the Gap’ Between Them and the Royal Family, Expert Says: ‘There Is Absolutely No Sign’
It seems Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t going out of their way to “bridge the gap” between them and their fellow British royals. An expert says the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may not actively be distancing themselves from royals such as Prince William, King Charles III, and Kate Middleton. But they’re not trying to close the “gap” either.
It’s debatable whether Harry and Meghan are intentionally ‘trying to widen the divide’ between them and royals
Speaking to OK! magazine about where the couple stands on the rift, royal expert Jennie Bond said the only thing that’s “certain” is Harry and Meghan’s seeming lack of effort to come together as a family.
“Whether they are deliberately trying to widen the divide is up for debate. What is certain is that they are doing nothing to bridge the gap,” she said before citing some of Harry and Meghan’s recent public appearances as examples.
“Meghan apparently didn’t have time to come to the U.K. with Harry for the Wellchild Awards because she had to deal with the children, but then she stayed on after the Invictus Games to visit [Princess] Eugenie in Portugal.”
Bond’s comments came after PR expert Kieran Elsby told the Mirror: “While they’ve voiced their desire for privacy and independence, their actions … might be interpreted as a deliberate move to maintain a disconnect from the royal family.”
Harry and Meghan ‘need to take a look at themselves’ amid the ongoing royal family rift
Bond continued, saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could do with some serious self-reflection. “They both need to take a look at themselves,” she told the outlet.
As for who in the royal family might have any idea how Harry and Meghan feel about a potential reconciliation, Bond said it’s likely Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie.
“Perhaps only Eugenie knows if they have any inclination to mend the rift with the rest of the family,” the expert said. “For the moment, though, there is absolutely no sign that they intend to do so.”
Harry and Eugenie have a close relationship. So much so Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, are the only two royals who have visited Harry and Meghan in California. Plus, there’s the aforementioned vacation to Portugal to consider. And how Eugenie was the only royal to appear in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries.
Harry described the royal family rift as a potentially ‘unrepairable’ in ‘Spare’
In his January 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry discussed how, in part, the growing divide between him and his family eventually led to his and Meghan’s leaving. Recalling a “secret meeting” at Frogmore Gardens with his father and brother following Prince Philip’s funeral on April 17, 2021, he described the friction within the family as “different.”
“For months the Windsors had been at war,” Harry wrote. “There had been strife in our ranks, off and on, going back centuries, but this was different. This was a full-scale public rupture, and it threatened to become unrepairable.”
By that point, there’d already been two “clear the air” meetings between Harry, Meghan, William, and Kate Middleton, days-long arguments via text, a supposed physical altercation, and more.
