As royal-watchers try to read the tea lives of what will be ahead for the British monarchy in the era of King Charles III, a new report predicts a life of extreme marginalization that could include exile for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
The report comes from The Daily Beast and is based on sources that are not named.
All things royal have been in the news since the Sept. 8 death of Queen Elizabeth II.
For example, a report in The Sun claimed that Harry rejected a dinner invitation from the new king, his father, when Meghan was not allowed to join them at the royal estate of Balmoral in Scotland after the queen’s death.
The Daily Beast report used the phrase “permanent ‘exile’” to describe what might be ahead as the royal family looks to 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated and was forced to live outside of Britain.
“The royals handled the abdication crisis by exiling Edward which meant he and Wallis ultimately came to seem like unimportant, misguided, disloyal, and even treacherous individuals to almost the entirety of the British people. It was a masterful operation in the service of which the Queen Mother, in particular, worked tirelessly,” the report said, citing what the Daily Beast said was a friend of the new king. “Wallis” is a reference to Wallis Simpson, who became Edward’s wife.
“The same thing is already happening with Harry and Meghan, and will only gather pace over the next few years under the rule of King Charles. And of course a wayward second son is far less of an existential threat to the fabric of the monarchy than a wayward king,” the report quoted the source as saying.
A former Buckingham Palace staffer also told The Daily Beast that the new king was delivering a not-so-subtle hint to Harry and Meghan in a statement that encouraged the couple to “continue to build their lives overseas.”
“Harry and Meghan will get an invite to the coronation but they will be firmly seated in the cheap seats along with Beatrice and Eugenie, as they were at the funeral. That will be it,” the former staffer said.
Should Prince Harry be exiled?
“Charles will be ruthless when it comes to protecting the Crown, and that means keeping Harry and Meghan as far from the center of gravity as possible,” the former staffer said.
Daily Beast royalist correspondent Tom Sykes wrote that Harry’s second-row seating at his grandmother’s funeral was “just one final reminder of Harry’s new lowly, outsider status.”
Sykes wrote that although Meghan’s comments are shrugged aside by Britons, “Harry represents an entirely different level of threat.” He also noted that what has been billed as the prince’s upcoming tell-all memoir could be critical.
“There is genuine nervousness about the impact his memoir—now thought to be delayed in the wake of the queen’s death, but that has not been confirmed—could have on the king if he decides to launch a serious attack on Charles, which many insiders fear he will.”
“Harry and Meghan are a huge distraction that the royals don’t need. Charles wants them out of sight and out of mind. So he is likely to feel far more comfortable if Harry and Meghan are safely on the other side of the world—for ever and ever, amen,” Sykes wrote.
A report in Fox News noted that Prince William, Harry’s older brother, is also not planning any quick reconciliation with Harry, citing the new book “The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown.” The book is written by Vanity Fair’s royal correspondent Katie Nicholl.
“William simply can’t forgive [Harry], not just for his behavior and what he’s done and how he’s done it, but look at how much now rests on William. He always thought Harry would be his wingman. Now he’s doing it on his own. Thank goodness he’s got Kate by his side,” referring to his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales.
“To this day, William still cannot forgive his brother,” she said.
