COMMENT: Veteran royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has spoken out about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s unpredictability.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should speak out on the Royal Family, an expert has said (Image: Getty)
We are currently seeing Prince Harry highlight his charitable work, which has considerable merit. This and his ability to communicate with people, especially the less fortunate, was one of the reasons he once held a unique place in the nation’s heart.
Yet there is a contradictory approach in the way the Sussexes support worthy causes and in their attitude to the Royal Family.
They know they are only significant because they are royal. Harry has chosen exile, which is his choice, especially as he was undoubtedly unhappy with aspects of his royal role.
However, it has long been rumoured that he is emotionally reliant on Meghan Markle and that she dominates in their relationship.
They must surely be the only royal couple in the world to monetise their royal connections, as well as attacking the Firm over a period of years.
However, they never face questions about the validity of their accusations.
As if to remind the world of how bitter he still is, the paperback version of his memoir, Spare, is published in Britain on 24th October when King Charles and Queen Camilla will be attending CHOGM in Samoa. This is the monarch’s first visit abroad since his cancer diagnosis and a trip of the highest importance.
Spare was a best seller in hardback, which is also likely to sell well in paperback. Last January Harry revealed that he had cut 400 pages from it as they were too toxic.
This was clearly a threat to the royal family, indicating that one day they might be published.
The interviews he gave promoting it were as ill-judged as its contents. King Charles evicted the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage, their home in Britain, after he made personal attacks on Queen Camilla.
It is fortunate he has decided not to give further interviews, especially as his recent appearance on ITV and Meghan’s on CBS were controversial.
Prince Harry is on a solo trip to Southern Africa (Image: Getty)
It is, however, a fact that the Invictus Games, his greatest achievement, Sentebale and WellChild, a charity for seriously ill children and their families for which he has just travelled to Britain, all predated his marriage.
It is a tragedy that the once supposedly inseparable brothers cannot be reunited, even in events honouring their mother.Last week Harry attended an event for the Diana Awards in New York.
In March, even though they were based in different continents, Harry and William would not appear in the same room in an event for this charity at the Science Museum in London.Another event in New York was for the HALO Trust, which campaigns for clearing landmines, which was a pivotal part of the Princess of Wales’s legacy.
Harry retraced her steps in Angola in 2019 and praised the progress made since then. This is an excellent cause.
So is Travalyst, which promotes sustainability in travel and tourism, which he founded in 2019. This sector causes high global emissions and a five-year initiative was announced.
Prince Harry was in London for the WellChild Awards on Monday night (Image: Getty)
There was also an event for Africa Parks which conserves protected areas in the continent. Harry is a board member and former President. This charity faces serious accusations of human rights abuses. Whilst they are being investigated, Harry should surely step aside as the human rights organization Survival International has urged.
He is now visiting Lesotho and South Africa, also solo. He co-founded Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, initially it was established to help HIV/AIDS sufferers. It now has a wider remit to help needy young people and the trip is likely to be a success.
However, reports indicate that the docuseries on polo he is producing for Netflix shows little footage of him. It may be admirable, as the Heart of Invictus documentary undoubtedly was, but few watched.
Polo is an elitist sport, he was surely the draw and it may well flop. Their contract worth $100 million, is pivotal for them, and they will hope it is renewed when it expires next year.
Meghan supports a variety of admirable causes, diversity, gender equality and campaigning against online abuse being prominent.
However, she has just been the subject of an extraordinary expose in the influential The Hollywood Reporter which gave reasons for the bizarrely high turnover of their staff, those who had left, were, it claimed, in “The Sussex Survivors Club”.
The soubriquet Meghan was given was “Duchess Difficult”. She was portrayed as “a dictator in high heels” who “terrifies” those working for her. It was also critical of the couple as “poor decision-makers” who “change their mind frequently”.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Colombia in August (Image: Getty)
Meghan faced accusations of bullying staff when a senior working royal, which she called “a calculated smear campaign”. These were the subject of an inquiry conducted by Buckingham Palace which has never been made public.
In the months to come we will undoubtedly be seeing more of Harry in Britain. He may reappear in the witness stand, in cases alleging unlawful press intrusion.
His appeal against the withdrawal of his automatic police protection may result in the Sussexes being placed in the “other VIP category”.
However, though he may come more often, it is unlikely that Meghan would be a frequent visitor, as she would face such fierce hostility, especially from the press, who once, though she tends to forget this, were universally admiring.
There will continue to be enormous interest on whether Harry will take any steps towards reconciling the rift which has been so damaging, to the royal family and also to the Sussexes. With King Charles and the Princess of Wales both battling cancer, it is a extremely difficult period for the institution.
The royals, with good reason, do not trust them.Harry and Meghan preach “joy”, but despite their admirable charitable work, their unpredictability, which often manifests itself in hostility, gives their actions a Jekyll and Hyde flavour.
If they really believe what they preach, why don’t they say something positive publicly about the royal family? It just might work wonders in helping to heal their rift with it.
Richard Fitzwilliams is a royal commentator, film critic and public relations consultant who has given over 1,500 interviews on television. He was Editor of The International Who’s Who, the standard work of its type, from 1975 to 2001.