Despite the fact that Prince Harry’s father is the King of England, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have never been so far removed from the royal family.
It has now been over three years since the Duke and Duchess distanced themselves from the Royal family and made their way to California to raise their kids. But, rebuking your royal duties is not as simple as it would seem. Harry was very active in the royal family, serving in the military and being a part of many organizations. He maintained his role as a patron of Invictus, WellChild, and Sentebale but has all but abandoned any other royal responsibilities to live a different kind of life with his family.
Since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the rift between the Duke and Duchess and the rest of the royals has only become deeper. After she died, it appeared the family tried to keep up appearances inviting Meghan to the Service of Thanksgiving and other events. In one particular event soon after the Queen’s passing, Harry, Meghan, Kate, and William were seen walking the grounds of Windsor together.
But over the past year, these relationships seem to have dwindled, or in the case of the brothers, blown up altogether. The public has noticed very little interaction between King Charles, William, and Harry. Many speculate that William does not respect Harry’s decision to leave his royal responsibilities and blames him for negative perceptions of the family following the exposure in his memoir Spare and Netflix docu-series Harry & Meghan.
A journalist criticized Harry for “burning bridges” with his book to which Harry responded, “I’m not sure how honesty is burning bridges. You know, silence only allows the abuser to abuse”.
Harry and Meghan also raised eyebrows when they announced they would like their son and daughter (Archie and Lilibet) to use their royal titles of Prince and Princess. They stated that they did not want to take away their children’s birthright despite how they feel about the royals. But, this has upset many who feel they are using and benefiting from royal status while simultaneously frowning upon the institution.
When it comes to public view, their popularity has remained lower than that of Prince William and Kate’s. But the question remains; Will there ever be a reconciliation? Britain’s royal family likes to keep things close to the chest and is well-known for keeping secrets buried, but the public eagerly seeks answers as to what will happen with the next generation and if/how they will change some of the broken parts of the institution.
