Charles \201cWill Need\201d Harry and Meghan When He is King, Royal Expert Says

Prince Charles Prince Harry Meghan Markle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 14 May 2022

Little by little, we are beginning to get glimpses of what a monarchy under Charles will look like. This week, the Prince of Wales attended the Opening of State Parliament on behalf of Her Majesty, the first time Charles has represented the Queen in this manner. (This is only the third time the Queen has ever missed this important event—the other two times were when she was pregnant with sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.)

Elder son Prince William attended the Opening of State Parliament alongside his father. But, as Charles’ reign comes into clearer focus, he “will need” younger son Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are “huge assets” to the royal family, says Tina Brown, author of the new book The Palace Papers.

“My guess is Charles is really going to want them back—sort of need them back, actually—because Harry and Meghan were huge assets to the whole royal repertoire, quite frankly,” Brown says on this week’s episode of “Royally Obsessed,” per The Daily Express. “They had a young appeal that was very, very potent in the country.”

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After the Sussex step back in January 2020, the couple hoped to carve out, if you will, a “part-time royal” role, where they both represented the Queen as working members of the royal family and pursued their own commercial interests. As the Express reports, “the ‘half-in, half-out’ approach was rejected, and the couple have since spent the majority of their time in the U.S.”

But the Sussexes are returning—and bringing kids Archie and Lili—to the Platinum Jubilee next month, and though the Queen has firmly decided that the “part-time royal” approach won’t work under her reign, Charles might “take a more gentle approach,” the Express says.

Kinsey Schofield, royal expert and founder of ToDiForDaily.com, told the Express that Charles has a “very soft heart” and is “anxious to start the healing process” with Harry.

“I think he’s desperately in love with Prince Harry—he loves Prince Harry,” she says. “He doesn’t like his actions, but Prince Harry is his DNA, and he does hurt when they’re not talking, he does hurt when things aren’t on the right path, and I think he’s anxious to start the healing process. I think that Prince Charles is very forgiving.”

And, speaking of glimpses little by little, maybe Harry and Meghan’s appearance at Platinum Jubilee events—flying in from their home base in California—is a peek at what the future could look like for the Sussexes as potential part-time royals.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.