One step at a time. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle still aren’t fully comfortable with the royal family amid their return to England for Queen Elizabeth II‘s funeral.
“Harry and and Meghan still are uneasy,” royal expert Christopher Andersen claims exclusively to Us Weekly of the Duke of Sussex, 37, and the Suits alum, 41. “We’ve seen that in a recent interview that Meghan gave. It’ll take an awful lot, I think, for those to get things back to where they were, and it’s all sad.”
The Brothers and Wives author was referring to the former Tig blogger’s recent interview with New York magazine’s The Cut, where she discussed some of the reasons why life in the royal family had been so challenging.
“There’s literally a structure by which if you want to release photos of your child, as a member of the family, you first have to give them to the Royal Rota,” the Bench author explained in August, referring to the U.K. press pool that covers the royal family. “Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child. You tell me how that makes sense and then I’ll play that game.”
The California native has also talked about her time in “The Firm” on her Spotify podcast, “Archetypes,” which debuted last month. In the inaugural episode, she recalled an incident where she and Harry had to continue with a royal engagement after a fire broke out in their son’s room. Archie, now 3, was 4 months old at the time. (Their daughter, Lili, now 15 months, wasn’t yet born.)
“As a mother, you go, ‘Oh, my God, what?’ Everyone’s in tears, everyone’s shaken,” the former actress said. “And what do we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement? I said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense.’”
Though things aren’t fully healed between the Sussexes and the royals, Andersen believes that King Charles III may try to ease the tension with Harry following the queen’s death. The late sovereign died at age 96 on Thursday, September 8.
“He’s gotta have all hands on deck,” the Day Diana Died author told Us of the new monarch 73. “And that means having both [Prince] William and Harry as partners as well.”
The former Duke of Cornwall assumed the throne immediately following his mother’s death, though his coronation will likely not take place for some time. During his first address to the U.K., Charles announced that William, 40, would succeed him as Prince of Wales, but he also mentioned Harry and Meghan, who stepped down as senior working royals in January 2020.
“I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan, as they continue to build their lives overseas,” the regent said on Friday, September 9.
One day later, Harry joined his brother and Princess Kate with Meghan as they greeted mourners outside Windsor Castle. An insider told Us that the reunion was William’s idea.
“William invited Harry and Meghan to join them,” the source explained. “They were delayed in arriving while they arranged the plans.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
