Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's 'make or break fear' as 'real problem' is clear
As the royals prepare for a cosy Christmas at Sandringham, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are out in the cold for what will be their seventh year away from the family celebrations. Despite some signs this year that a reconciliation could be on the cards, particularly for King Charles and Prince Harry, royal biographer Tom Bower claims Christmas is shaping up to be a nightmare for the Sussexes.“Harry clearly met his father with the hope that he could ingratiate himself back into the family, but it isn’t going to work, there is just no way back for him,” Tom told the Mirror. “Harry himself said he didn’t know how long his father has got, and I think that hangs over him, but I don’t think he’s that high up on Charles’ list of priorities."READ MORE: Kendall Jenner’s stylish and waterproof wellies from Princess Kate-loved brand are now £35 offHe continued, “And Meghan isn’t reconciled with her own family and she never wants to come back to Britain, so her relationships with both families act against Harry’s own instinctive interests. The result is they are left in a very isolated place at Christmas.”Harry, 41, and the King, 77, met for just 54 minutes at Clarence House in September in what was their first in-person meeting for over 18 months. But any hopes for a reconciliation were dashed when details of the event were allegedly “leaked”, and Harry’s team claimed there were “sources intent on sabotaging” the reunion.According to Tom, the so-called leak was not the only thing that hurt any signs of progress. “He was granted those 54 minutes with the King by the skin of his teeth, but was told that not a word must be spoken about it,” he told us. “And then he gets on the train to Ukraine and tells a reporter that he has no regrets for anything he said in Spare.”Another major obstacle has been Harry’s fight to get security for his family while in the UK. He was “devastated” after losing a court battle earlier this year over the decision to downgrade their protection, and said later he couldn’t “see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point”.But last week The Sun reported he had “won a Home Office review” into the threat level, which, if it goes Harry’s way, could lead to a long-overdue reunion for King Charles and his grandchildren, who have only met once.Even so, Tom said, “The King is not only battling for survival, literally battling to live, but he wants a legacy and he wants to have a good transition to William, and Harry just gets in the way.”It’s also highly unlikely the Sussexes will spend Christmas with the Markle side of the family, due to the estrangement on Meghan’s side too. Her relationship with her dad, Thomas Markle Sr, started to crumble around the time of her 2018 wedding to Harry. Thomas had to admit he lied to his future son-in-law about accusations he had staged paparazzi photos for cash a few weeks before the big day.However, Meghan, 44, reportedly “reached out” to him via email last week after hearing about his emergency limb amputation in the Philippines, but it wasn’t clear whether the email had landed in Thomas’ inbox.Following a claim that Thomas, 81, was “confused” by reports Meghan had tried to contact him, People magazine said it understood Meghan’s email “did not generate an error or bounce-back notification” and “efforts to obtain updated contact information for Thomas” were ongoing.He admitted from his hospital bed last week he was “open to reconciling” with his daughter, and wanted to meet her children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, adding, “It might be nice to meet her husband too.”Meghan’s other big headache, according to Tom, is her reality TV career and lifestyle brand, As Ever, following the largely negative reviews of her latest Holiday Celebration edition of With Love, Meghan, which launched on 3 December.“This Christmas is make-or-break time for Meghan because there are two main problems – money and profile,” he told us. “Her lifestyle shows are clearly not taking off. She put on a great show in terms of looking great and pretending nothing is wrong, but the reality is it’s not a great success, to say the least.“It hinges on how much Meghan can sell at Christmas and if it doesn’t sell, she has a real problem. Are people prepared to pay $32 for a jar of honey from the Duchess of Sussex? If it doesn’t work this Christmas, they have a real problem about what they will do in 2026.”Tom also describes Harry as a “declining asset” in the family, as his list of official roles shrunk when he stepped back from the Sentebale charity in March amid reports of a fallout with its staff.“The fate of Sentebale is OK without him, so what’s he got? The next Invictus Games is in 2027, so what is he going to do for a year?” Tom said. “There’s just no easy solution to the problem they have.”* Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
