Royal Insiders Can't Predict How Prince William & Kate Middleton Will Handle Sussex Squad Return

In one of the most shocking developments since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's acrimonious exit from the royal family six years ago, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have officially moved back to the U.K. with their two children, after spending more than half a decade on the other side of the pond. The Sussexes' return to Harry's home country comes amid an apparent royal family truce between the prince and his estranged father, King Charles III. But while Charles' relationship with Harry and Meghan is reportedly "improving considerably," there is still an elephant in the room. 

Harry and his older brother Prince William's frosty relationship has seen "no movement" towards amends. In fact, at this stage, the situation remains so unpredictable that not even royal experts can seem to agree on how William and his own wife, Kate Middleton, will handle the Sussexes' homecoming. In a chat with the Daily Mail, royal correspondent Richard Kay opined that, simply put, the Prince and Princess of Wales can't just ignore Meghan and Harry. "At some stage they are going to have to engage," he said. 

Kay further posited that allowing the bad blood to go unchecked for too long would be a bad look for both William and the monarchy at large, and that he should at least try to give the appearance that the estranged brothers are trying to work things out. "William knows that, above all, his responsibility to the monarchy, to the institution, has to take first place, so he'll have to put whatever personal differences he has to one side," Kay pointed out. Others, however, believe that keeping the royal defectors at a distance is exactly what William and Kate will, and indeed should, do.

While royal expert Richard Kay argued that Prince William and Kate Middleton cannot simply refuse to acknowledge Prince William and Meghan Markle's existence now that they're back in England, a friend of the couple quoted in the same Daily Mail article asserted that that's precisely how the Prince and Princess of Wales intend to handle the situation. "It makes no difference if Harry and Meghan are in Oxfordshire, California or Timbuktu," they stated. "William and Catherine will continue their lives of public service. They intend to lead by example." 

While Kay suggested that the foursome should have a private meeting to try and come to some sort of understanding regarding their public-facing relationship, the article's author, and fellow royal reporter, Richard Eden pushed back on the idea that the heir to the British throne should have to do any such thing. "I rarely disagree with my friend Richard, but on this I do. The pressure being put on William and Catherine is unfair and wrong," he wrote. Of course, with Harry and Meghan's return to the U.K. still being very new, it remains to be seen if William and Kate can truly keep up the could-shoulder treatment when they are practically living in their backyard. 

Many insiders expect a royal family reconciliation to be a "slow build" on William and Kate's part. As a palace insider explained to People, "They have suffered a lot. They have been dutiful, doing what they do well and keeping the family together. Anything else, from their point of view, isn't critical." In other words, we're still very much in the "wait and see" stage at the moment.