Prince Harry believes the Royal Family “need him” and expects to be welcomed back into the fold, according to a source close to the Sussexes, as Meghan Markle reportedly sets her sights on a coveted invitation that could cement her return to British high society.
The 41-year-old Duke of Sussex and 45-year-old Duchess of Sussex landed at Birmingham Airport by private jet on August 26 with their children, Prince Archie, seven, Princess Lilibet, five, and dogs Mia and Pula in tow.
Just over a fortnight later, friends of the couple have shed new light on what Harry and Meghan hope to achieve from their return after six years based in the United States.
The Sussexes are expected to remain in Britain for an “extended period of time” and, according to sources who spoke to Daily Mail editor-at-large Alison Boshoff, are already looking to re-establish themselves within royal and British society.
It comes six years after Harry and Meghan stepped back as senior working royals and relocated to the US, triggering a bitter and highly publicised split from the monarchy.
“Look, they expect to be let back in. Harry expects they [the Royal Family] need him,” a source close to the couple told Boshoff.
“He and Meghan have nothing else going for them. They’ve burned every bridge in America.”
Meghan, meanwhile, is reportedly hoping to secure an invitation to the 40th anniversary celebrations for The Phantom of the Opera in London on October 9.
An appearance at the milestone event could carry particular significance given the relationship between the musical’s creator, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, and King Charles III.
Boshoff said an invitation would send “a bit of a message”.
Harry has also unveiled a string of public appearances this month, with his team describing the schedule as his “September public engagements”.
Among them are the launch of the INSPIRE educational initiative and the WellChild Awards, engagements reminiscent of the public-facing charitable work Harry carried out during his years as a senior working royal.
The activity comes despite Buckingham Palace recently moving to reaffirm that Harry and Meghan remain non-working members of the Royal Family following their return to Britain.
King Charles, 77, issued a “guidance letter” through the Lord Chamberlain to relevant senior stakeholders across government, the military and Lord Lieutenancies, reiterating the Sussexes’ status following their move from California.
The guidance makes clear the couple remain “private citizens” and cannot use the styles of His or Her Royal Highness.
It also reinforces the terms established when Harry and Meghan stepped away from royal duties in 2020 under the so-called Sandringham Agreement, which ruled out a “half-in, half-out” arrangement allowing them to pursue commercial interests while simultaneously serving as working royals.
“It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family,” the letter says.
It added: “The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity”.
However, the Palace intervention is understood to have frustrated the Sussexes, who reportedly received the guidance with insufficient time to seek clarification on several points before it became public.
Harry is said to have taken particular issue with the description of himself and Meghan as “private citizens”, with the couple instead preferring to be characterised as “public figures”.
“The duke is understood to have taken particular issue with the notion that the couple were to be treated as private citizens. If that were the case, it was claimed, such formal guidance would not be required,” the Telegraph UK reported.
“The Sussexes prefer the term ‘public figures’, and would have liked an acknowledgement that, on a personal level, they remained members of the Royal Family, despite no longer receiving public funding.”
Despite the apparent clash, another friend told Boshoff that Harry had anticipated tensions with the Palace even before the family arrived back in Britain.
“He [Harry] is not surprised,” the source said.
“Remember, this is a couple who had briefing after briefing after briefing against them from parts of the establishment. They had really prepared themselves for this outcome before they came back. They were always expecting it.”
The latest back-and-forth appears to have done little to ease tensions within royal circles, with Palace sources reportedly already “weary and wary” of the Sussexes before their return.
Their reaction to the latest dispute was summed up with one pointed question: “Will they never learn?”