Grovelling Harry & Meghan want a foot back in the door of Britain – their kids won’t forgive them otherwise, expert says
HARRY and Meghan’s first trip to Britain as a couple in four years is a bid to get a “foot back in the door” of the UK, a royal expert has said.
The Duchess of Sussex shared a string of Instagram photos from the family’s recent summer break, showing Harry, Archie and Lilibet during stops in Europe and the UK.
Meghan posted the pictures from visits to Portugal, Althorp – Princess Diana‘s childhood home – and Scotland to her 4.5million followers.
The family also enjoyed tea with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove during their secret UK visit.
It was the monarch’s first meeting with Meghan and the children since 2022 amid the Megxit saga – shockingly Harry has only seen his own dad, the King, twice in the last two and a half years.
But Majesty Magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward believes the trip shows Harry and Meghan are trying to rebuild ties with the Royal Family.
She said: “First of all I think the Sussexes do want a foot back in the door, for the sake of their children and their children’s futures.
“I think the children could be really annoyed, not now, but when they grow up, with their father and mother.
“They could ask ‘why haven’t you introduced me to my other life, my cousins, my heritage’, and I think that would be an awkward one for Harry and Meghan to explain.”
It was suggested Meghan may have realised she needs the “royal gold dust” to improve her “shattered” image.
Seward said: “I think Harry is keen to reconcile with the family, and I am sure that Meghan does too as she needs that sparkle of royal gold dust around her so she becomes relevant again and her overall popularity improves.
“I am sure the pair are grovelling. At the moment at home for Meghan the Americans hate her.
“Her popularity is shattered – of course there will always be the Meghan superfans – but largely she is seen as somebody who breaks ties with her own family and she is seen as splitting Harry and the children from their family too.
“The Americans also love the Royals too, so winning them back would help her situation enormously.
“Meghan needs to mend those fences, but she is having to take a back seat and gradually work around this.”
Dad-of-two Harry, 41, had intended to bring his wife and children with him for the full duration of his five-day trip to Britain, which included attending the Invictus Games in Birmingham.
However, he instead flew in alone and hours before arriving in London an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace was reportedly withdrawn after he failed to meet the deadline for a decision.
Duchess Meghan, 44, meanwhile, delayed her arrival and entered the country in secret with Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five – due to ongoing security concerns after Harry lost a row with the Home Office over its refusal to provide taxpayer-funded protection, with him no longer being a working royal.
However, he has since been told he will be granted a risk management board to reassess whether he should receive automatic police protection every time he visits the UK – which was supposed to take place in March but still hasn’t, due to a backlog, reports the Times.
Ingrid said King Charles will also want to spend more time with his grandchildren despite his busy diary.
She said: “Because of the King’s age I think Charles himself will want to spend time with his grandchildren.
“Though with his schedule I think the only chance he will get to spend with them is during the annual summer trip to Scotland for the long Balmoral break.
“So with this in mind I think there is a real chance that they return for that, this summer seems unlikely, but in the future I can see this happening.”
Looking ahead, Seward said she believes Charles could encourage visits to Scotland.
“I think the King will say to Harry, ‘darling boy, you know I can only really see you in Scotland’, where he will be given assurances about security, and that is what I think will happen,” she said.
Though while relations with the King could improve, Harry’s rift with Prince William remains a different matter.
Seward said: “The rest of the family won’t want to make things any more difficult for the King than they already are, the issues with Harry and his brother however are a whole other ball game completely.”
She added: “Harry and Meghan have a residence in Portugal too so it makes it much easier for them to fly here and back rather than the long journey to LA.”
The royal expert suggested the Duke may one day want Archie and Lilibet educated in Britain.
