Harry and Meghan will not be spending Christmas with the rest of the family this year (Image: Getty Images)
As the royals prepare for a festive Christmas at Sandringham, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain shut out for what will mark their seventh straight year absent from the family celebrations.
Despite hints this year that a rapprochement might be on the cards, particularly between King Charles and Prince Harry, Royal biographer Tom Bower believes Christmas is destined to be a challenging period for the Sussexes.
“Harry clearly met his father with the hope that he could ingratiate himself back into the family, but it isn’t going to work, there is just no way back for him,” Tom said.
“Harry himself said he didn’t know how long his father has got, and I think that hangs over him, but I don’t think he’s that high up on Charles’ list of priorities.”
He continued: “And Meghan isn’t reconciled with her own family and she never wants to come back to Britain, so her relationships with both families act against Harry’s own instinctive interests. The result is they are left in a very isolated place at Christmas.”
Harry, 41, and the King, 77, held a brief 54-minute meeting at Clarence House in September, marking their first face-to-face encounter in over 18 months.
Read more: Israel blames Unit 910 for Bondi Beach terror attack
Read more: Trump’s 5-word comment for Bondi Beach hero
However, any hopes for reconciliation were dashed when details of the meeting were reportedly “leaked”, with Harry’s team claiming there were “sources intent on sabotaging” the reunion. According to Tom, the alleged leak wasn’t the only factor that scuppered any chance of reconciliation.
“He was granted those 54 minutes with the King by the skin of his teeth, but was told that not a word must be spoken about it,” he revealed.
“And then he gets on the train to Ukraine and tells a reporter that he has no regrets for anything he said in Spare.”
Harry’s continuing fight to secure protection for his family in the UK has created another major obstacle
He was “devastated” after an unsuccessful court challenge this year regarding the downgrading of their security arrangements, declaring afterwards he couldn’t “see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
However, The Sun recently reported that he had “won a Home Office review” concerning the threat assessment, which could potentially pave the way for King Charles to finally reunite with his grandchildren, whom he has met just once.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the Royal Family in 2020 (Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Nevertheless, Tom observed, “The King is not only battling for survival, literally battling to live, but he wants a legacy and he wants to have a good transition to William, and Harry just gets in the way.”
The Sussexes are also unlikely to celebrate Christmas with the Markle family, given Meghan’s own fractured relationships.
Her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle Sr, began deteriorating around her 2018 wedding to Harry. Thomas was compelled to admit he had deceived his prospective son-in-law regarding claims he had staged paparazzi shots for financial gain mere weeks before the wedding.
The 44 year old Meghan allegedly “reached out” to her father through email last week following news of his emergency leg amputation in the Philippines.
Nevertheless, uncertainty surrounds whether Thomas actually received the correspondence.
People magazine revealed that the 81 year old Thomas was “confused” by reports suggesting Meghan had tried to make contact.
Meghan and her father, Thomas Markle (Image: Netflix)
The outlet noted that Meghan’s email “did not generate an error or bounce-back notification” and attempts were being made to secure current contact details for Thomas.
Speaking from his hospital bed last week, Thomas declared he was “open to reconciling” with his daughter.
He also voiced his wish to meet his grandchildren, six year old Prince Archie and four year old Princess Lilibet, stating: “It might be nice to meet her husband too.”
According to Tom, another major worry for Meghan centres on her reality TV pursuits and lifestyle brand, As Ever.
This comes after predominantly poor reception of her recent Holiday Celebration edition of With Love, Meghan, which debuted on December 3.
Harry and Charles saw each other briefly this year (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“This Christmas is make-or-break time for Meghan because there are two main problems – money and profile,” he revealed.
“Her lifestyle shows are clearly not taking off. She put on a great show in terms of looking great and pretending nothing is wrong, but the reality is it’s not a great success, to say the least.
“It hinges on how much Meghan can sell at Christmas and if it doesn’t sell, she has a real problem. Are people prepared to pay $32 for a jar of honey from the Duchess of Sussex? If it doesn’t work this Christmas, they have a real problem about what they will do in 2026.”
Tom also described Harry as a “declining asset” within the family, highlighting that his list of official duties has shrunk since he stepped back from the Sentebale charity in March amid rumours of discord with its staff.
“The fate of Sentebale is OK without him, so what’s he got? The next Invictus Games is in 2027, so what is he going to do for a year?” Tom queried. “There’s just no easy solution to the problem they have.”