There's Speculation Prince Harry Won't Be Welcomed Back Into The UK, According To A Royal Expert
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The first three episodes of the new Netflix docuseries, "Harry & Meghan," dropped this week, sending new shockwaves through the royal family and their fandom. This isn't the first time Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have gone public about what living as working members of the House of Windsor was actually like — and it won't be the last. With Harry's memoir, "Spare," will be published soon, and more episodes of the docuseries still to drop, royal fans and foes eagerly await the rest of the tea the Sussexes have to spill.
For many, Harry and Meghan are throwing major Princess Diana energy. When Diana's BBC interview with Martin Bashir aired, she was the first royal to speak openly and candidly about the nightmare living as the Princess of Wales had been for her. Other than Diana and then-Prince Charles getting divorced, the royal family made no public comment about any of the allegations Diana made (via Cosmopolitan UK).
After Harry and Meghan's own interview with Oprah aired, Buckingham Palace changed tact, choosing to issue a statement, sharing how "saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years [had] been for Harry and Meghan." The statement added that the allegations, particularly when it came to racism, were going to be "taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately."
Now that the couple is dishing more details, royal experts are speculating a big response from King Charles III.
Prince Harry claims royal family sells stories to tabloids
Despite the fact some sources believe King Charles III is breathing a sigh of relief after "Harry & Meghan" finally aired, others are expecting a bigger backlash from the royal family for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The couple certainly received one from the British press.
Within the opening minutes in the first episode of "Harry & Meghan," Prince Harry explained that he felt it was his "duty" to "uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media" (via CNN). Harry explained most news outlets—especially tabloids—were part of the royal rota, which feed a hungry public the stories of the royal families, provided by the royal family, or those close to them.
Leaving England and his role as a working royal was, Prince Harry felt, exactly what he needed to do to protect his family, "especially after what happened to [Princess Diana]."
In the series, Harry explains that just like there was for Diana, the media had an insatiable fixation on Meghan when she and Harry started dating and then become engaged. According to Harry, those he turned to inside the royal family for help felt that, for Meghan, braving the media firestorm was "like a rite of passage."
But, as the The Guardian points out, the tabloids are also the reason for the "wall-to-wall coverage" of the docuseries; both "The Sun" and "MailOnline" published stories numbering in the double-digits within hours of the show's release.
Royal expert believes Meghan is why there won't be any royal reunion
Part of the coverage, of course, has been speculation over how the royal family feels.
After the first few episodes of Netflix's "Harry & Meghan" aired, Buckingham Palace announced they would not be making any comments about the show or its content, per CNN. A disclaimer in the show's opening credits echo this, saying the royal family "declined to comment on the content within [this] series." But according to NBC News, no family member—nor anyone inside Buckingham or Kensington Palace—knew about the opportunity to comment.
Different outlets have, of course, been quoting sources and experts about how they think the royal family is responding.
Tom Bower, author of "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors," talked to Page Six last week about how he thinks the future dynamics of the royal family will play out. "I don't think Harry will ever be welcome back in England," Bower said. He added that the only outlier event may be an invitation to King Charles III's coronation, given how much Charles is reported to "hate confrontation." Any attempt Harry may want to make to repair relationships with family members, according to Bower, "won't be easy considering [Meghan]'s quest for fame and fortune"—a claim rooted in a Fox News interview with Meghan's estranged sister.
For Harry and Meghan, they believe they are following the example Princess Diana set: speaking their truth about their experience.