EXCLUSIVE: Despite walking away from their lives as working royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan are maintaining their connection to the family through two specific means
Even though the Duke and Duchess of Sussex walked away from their lives as senior members of the Royal Family in January 2020, they have continued to maintain their links through keeping their titles, not wishing to deny their children their “birth right” by using their Prince and Princess style and by carrying out ‘semi-royal’ tours.
Although Meghan has not joined her husband on a visit to the UK since September 2022 when Queen Elizabeth II passed away, a leading royal expert has explained that there are two reasons which show that Meghan’s ties to her former royal life aren’t over just yet.
“If Meghan is encouraging Harry to leave the past behind and move on, then I think it is a healthy move. They have made their decision, left the working Royal Family and left the UK,” former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond exclusively tells OK!
“Brooding on the perceived injustices of the past and re-living old quarrels is a waste of a life, and I think Meghan sees that.”
While Meghan will understand her husband’s wish to maintain his connection to the UK, Jennie explains that it is far easier for the Duchess to walk away from her royal role as she held it officially for less than two years.
“On the other hand, she doesn’t have an entire and complex history of life in the confines of the royal family to worry about,” Jennie adds. “It’s easy for her to look forward, ensconced as she is in a country and lifestyle she is so used to and clearly loves.
“But Harry has said he wants to be reunited with his family so he is obviously going to think about what has happened and how they have come to this state of affairs. And that’s probably quite frustrating for Meghan… who seems to be at ease with estrangement from her own family.”
With Harry approaching his 40th birthday on 15 September, he is fresh from his ‘semi-royal’ tour of Colombia – a method which experts have said is the perfect method for the Duke to maintain his connection with the life of service he was brought up to know. And while Harry seems intent on tying his former life together with his new Californian lifestyle, Jennie explains why Meghan only maintains two ties to her brief time as a working royal.
“I don’t think Harry spends all his time looking back, but the Harry I knew as a young boy was someone who enjoyed fooling around with his family and having fun with them,” Jennie says.
“In his book Spare he writes about his fond memories of some of those family gatherings and it’s only natural that he now misses that connection and perhaps is still considering ways of repairing the damage done in recent years.
“Meghan, however, has I think consigned her brief dalliance at being royal very firmly to the past… except for the title and the kudos it brings.”