The one thing Meghan Markle refuses to do that could destroy Prince Harry’s chance to be royal again
Flying high on the success of their recent trip to Australia, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could be set to turn things around this year as their popularity takes a huge upturn.
Posting a glossy montage of their time on the West Coast, the clips of Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, immaculately dressed, with beaming smiles and holding hands, had all of the markings of a successful royal tour.
And, as we’ve recently reported it, there’s now growing speculation that the Royal Family want in on the new shiny ‘brand Sussex’, with a source telling us earlier this week that King Charles may be finally relenting to Harry’s previous request that he have a ‘half in, half out’ role within the Firm.
Ahead of stepping down as senior working royals in 2020, Harry revealed he had proposed the idea to the late Queen during the 'Sandringham Summit' - the meeting had between senior royals to decide on the future of Meghan and Harry. But it was strongly rejected and replaced by an 'all in, or all out' ultimatum.
However, if this speculated new deal is to work, a source tells us that Harry is reluctant to continue to fly thousands of miles back and forth between California and London without his family by his side, and is determined to persuade Meghan to join him as a part-time working royal - a feat that would be a huge U-turn considering that she hasn’t stepped foot in the UK for nearly four years.
We’re told, ‘Harry feels he’s very close to getting Charles to agree to allow him and Meghan to be working royals on a part time basis. He genuinely believes there’s a role for them both and says the timing to have that conversation is now, while Charles is still able to make those calls.
‘The problem is he can’t keep doing this solo, flying back and forth and trying to rebuild bridges on his own, because for it to really work it needs to feel like a united front. His vision is having his wife by his side for all of this, his partner.
‘That’s what the plan was when they first met, and Harry is ready to revisit that in a big way. Yes, they have taken an American detour, but he doesn’t see why that needs to stand in their way. If anything, it’s been a way for them to connect more in America.’
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Meanwhile, Meghan is reported to have recently trademarked her lifestyle brand in Australia, and is, by all accounts, continuing to go gung-ho on becoming Montecito’s next Martha Stewart. Just last week a spokesperson for the Sussexes was also forced to dismiss reports that Harry and Meghan and trademarked Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s names, although their royal monikers have appeared on candles as part of her new Mother’s Day collection.
And the source says that with plans for the brand and their new First Look deal with Netflix, which they signed in August, well underway, Meghan is ‘not ready to scrap’ everything they have worked hard to build stateside.
The insider says, ‘The issue of course is that Meghan is not at all of the same mind. When they turned her and Harry down way back in 2020, she moved on and created a new blueprint for her life and she is well into that. She’s not ready to scrap is all and go back to be the face of the royal family, not a chance.
‘But Harry’s simply not willing to give up on his heritage or his family. He’s thrilled that things are finally coming together. He keeps reminding Meghan that this is what she wanted, not just him, so they’d be incredibly foolish to turn their backs on what a few years ago was the dream scenario.’
It’s now just a few weeks from the Invictus Games, which this year will be held in Birmingham, England, in July, but the source says that Meghan and Harry are ‘very much at odds’, adding that ‘neither seems ready to budge.’
So much so, that with their UK security still under review and relations with the royals not rising much below freezing, we’re told that Meghan, who has supported Harry at every Invictus Games event since their relationship went public in 2017, is undecided whether to attend this year.
The source says, ‘Meghan is still in two minds about returning for the Invictus preparations, which of course Harry is totally banking on as he’s assured his father that they’ll be bringing Archie and Lili to finally enjoy some quality time with him.
‘Right now, Meghan’s leaning towards going but it won’t be a long trip and she has plenty of conditions that need to be met before it’s fully signed off. But even if he gets his way and Meghan does come along, he’ll be on pins and needles the whole time, worrying about her being comfortable and hoping the trip doesn’t descend into a paparazzi-filled circus.’
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But despite his wife’s reported reluctance to leave their sun-soaked Montecito mansion, we’re told that Harry has even proposed that they start property hunting in the UK; following claims they had been house hunting in 2023 after their eviction from their former Windsor home of Frogmore Cottage.
‘Any deal he manages to push through would look pretty odd if Meghan isn’t part of it, and she can’t very well be immersed in British culture if she isn’t willing to live there part time, or at least travel over more frequently,’ the insider says now.
‘So for Harry it makes perfect sense that they’d acquire themselves a bolthole in or around Windsor, which they could use as a crash pad whenever they’re in town and also leave for the kids to enjoy as they get older.’
Unsurprisingly, we’re told that for Meghan, this new New Life in the Cold approach is not in the least appealing, and the source says a move to the UK is the one thing she absolutely refuses to do.
The insider says, ‘For Harry it’s totally exhausting and he’s likening the process to pushing a giant boulder up a steep hill. But ultimately this is not in his hands, he knows better than anyone that it doesn’t pay to pressure Meghan, she doesn’t respond well to it and the harsh reality for her reluctance towards the UK is that she’s had such negative experiences there ever since they decided to step back as working royals.’
As for Meghan, the source says that while she is happy for him to reconnect with his family, carry on current legal case and continue to work with the causes he is passionate about in the UK, she sees their future as a family firmly in the US.
‘It’s one thing to go back and forth [to England] for court cases and the occasional trip to see his family, but at this point she needs him to pare it down and stick tight in America,’ the insider says.
‘If a situation arises where they get a part time gig with the royals, she says they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it. But moving back to the UK is certainly not an option for Meghan at any point. It would be a massive deal breaker.’
