Royal Family Assistant Who Worked for Prince William and King Charles Thinks They Should ‘Bite the Bullet’ and Ask Prince Harry to Return
After it was announced that King Charles would have to scale back his duties while undergoing cancer treatment and the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) was also stepping back to receive preventative chemotherapy, the remaining working royals have been stretched thin in the family’s new slimmed-down monarchy.
There have been some reports that Prince Harry would be willing to come back in his father and sister-in-law’s absence to help shoulder some of the responsibilities. While most royal watchers have dismissed that idea altogether, one person who used to work for the family thinks the Duke of Sussex should be asked to come back now as the monarchy is facing a “crisis.”
Why a former aide says the family should ask Prince Harry to return to royal duties
Grant Harrold was King Charles’ butler from 2004 to 2011. During his time working for the monarch his duties also included that of valet, house manager, and driver. He looked after Prince William and Prince Harry as well whenever they stayed at Highgrove House. Now, Harrold is giving his take on why it makes sense and is vital for the royals to ask Harry to return to his duties on a temporary basis.
Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie, Harrold said: “I’ve noticed the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have suddenly reappeared. These are royals in their 70s, who you’d have thought would be slowing down and almost retired, but it seems to be the opposite. We’re seeing more of them and it’s almost like they’re having to bring back royals that should be taking it easy, and they suddenly have to come back into the fold … Part of me is thinking, will they bite the bullet and say to Harry, ‘We need you to come back to help your brother with undertaking duties again.’
“He’s not a working member of the royal family, but he is a senior member of the royal family. As such, at this point in time, with everything going wrong, it’s not unreasonable to ask if he would. We don’t know. All I know is when families are in a crisis, family members often rally round. You’d like to think that is a possibility, but obviously, there’s been no sign of that yet. Who do you call? There is nobody else, that’s the reality of it. There aren’t many options out there.”
Harrold added: “I don’t see any reason why Harry couldn’t return as a full working royal. He’s fifth in line to the throne. God forbid, if something happened that wiped out William’s family, it is Harry and Meghan. That’s what people forget, they are the next step at this moment in time. On that front, he is a significant member of the family, it will be a long time before that changes. As fifth in line to the throne, as Counsel of the State, as the son of the king, as the brother of the future King, you would think he would step in and come in to actually help.
“I don’t think people could be unhappy about [Harry returning] because, at the end of the day, he’s doing it for his father. And I think they’d be wrong to complain about it. I think the issue might be, people think, what if he’s doing it for his own ends … Maybe he’ll come back and do a couple of engagements with his brother initially, to start off, and then we may see him being asked to do things on behalf of his father, which he would have been doing, just to be very clear … he would have been doing this if things were different, there’s no two ways about it.”
That won’t happen if Prince William has a say
But don’t bet on the royals asking Harry back anytime soon or ever as Prince William is said to be 100% against the idea and would rather do things on his own than ask his sibling.
An insider told The Mirror: “Prince William is determined to soldier on and hold the fort while King Charles and Kate are absent, and it shows his strength of character. It’s a duty he takes with the utmost importance and one he will not shirk.”
And as one of the Prince of Wales’ friends told the Daily Beast, William has not forgiven the Duke of Sussex as he “feels utterly betrayed … He hates him for what he has done to the family in the books and interviews … It’s no secret William would prefer it if Harry never stepped foot in England again.”
