Why Harry and Meghan’s return suddenly looks inevitable. As much as he might hate to admit it, William needs him now: SHARON HUNT
The British Royal Family is facing its most perilous moment in years.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, long disgraced over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested. It’s a development that raises uncomfortable questions about why he remained protected within the royal fold for so long.
The fallout from that decision is only just beginning, as the investigation into alleged misconduct in public office gains momentum. All signs point to things getting worse, not better.
The knock-on effect, of course, is a long, ominous shadow over the British monarchy – its future now hanging on how well it weathers this storm.
Recent controversies involving the few remaining working royals have only added to the turmoil.
Prince William, the heir apparent, has recently been branded a ‘reluctant monarch’. True or not, the label has certainly fuelled media speculation.
Meanwhile, King Charles continues to quietly undergo cancer treatment. At age 77 – an era of life when many would be well into retirement – it has some royal watchers speculating about an eventual abdication and family plans to fast-track the transition.
At a moment this unstable, the Firm can ill afford the ongoing stalemate between the King’s sons. A transatlantic cold war is damaging enough in normal times – amid a constitutional crisis, it risks becoming downright corrosive.
Prince William, pictured with wife Catherine in Wales on February 26, was all smiles amid the recent Royal Family crisis resulting from the arrest of his uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Danish royals King Frederik and Queen Mary, pictured here in Copenhagen on February 24, have also recently weathered turbulence within their household – though not of the same scale
But there is precedent elsewhere in Europe.
About 983 kilometres (or 610.4 miles) away from London, across the North Sea in Copenhagen, the Danish monarchy has recently faced its own royal family crisis.
What happened to the House of Glücksburg, currently led by King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark, demonstrated how swiftly a family dispute can destabilise the reputation of a monarchy – but also how decisive intervention can begin to repair the damage. More on that later.
As for the bruised Windsors, they’d be wise to remember they’re not immune to turmoil in times like these.
With Andrew’s scandal poised to dominate headlines for months, the pressure to steady the ship has never been greater.
If the Danish royal playbook is anything to go by, the answer may lie in reaching out to those far-flung family members overseas.
Yes, I’m talking about a détente with the Sussexes as a strategic solution.
For years, the Montecito expats have been cast as the royal family’s wild card, but in a crisis, even the most unlikely alliances can prove invaluable.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a roundtable conference in Amman on February 25
The Sussexes, in conjunction with WHO, embarked on a humanitarian trip to Jordan last month
But amid the recent royal turmoil, they’re starting to look remarkably stable, dignified, even vindicated by comparison.
This was further cemented this week when Prince Harry and Meghan embarked on a humanitarian mission to Jordan in conjunction with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The trip centred on global health and mental health support, and was in no way connected to the British government or the Crown. Yet the resulting press coverage aligned more closely with the kinds of headlines that the royal family prefers to generate.
So, is the smart move now to broker peace between the princely brothers? Could this be the moment to bring Harry, Meghan and their family back into the royal fold – for the sake of unity and strength in numbers?
Royal watchers have long reported that William is famously strong-willed – stubborn, even – but becoming King will require pragmatism as much as principle.
Previously, the question was whether he might strip Harry, Meghan and their children of their titles.
Now, with Andrew’s alleged misconduct eclipsing anything the Sussexes have ever said or done to affect the Royal Family’s reputation, the calculus has changed entirely.
The real question – perhaps the urgent one – is whether the time has now come for William, and by extension the Royal Family, to extend the olive branch across the pond.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited the World Central Kitchen on February 26
Meghan and Harry also spent time visiting the QuestScope Youth Center at the Za’atari refugee camp in Northern Jordan on February 25
It was business as usual for Prince William and Princess Catherine in Wales – despite the recent controversies rocking the royal establishment
Because in the current scenario, the supposed sins of the Sussexes – from self-pity to oversharing – are, at the end of the day, minuscule compared to the litany of shame that Andrew has and continues to heap on the monarchy.
Although by no means the same scenario, there are echoes of the situation in the recent events faced by another royal family: the Danish royals.
They, too, had a wayward ‘spare’ prince, who along with his disgruntled family fled to the US, complaining loudly as they departed about being ill-treated.
And while it hasn’t happened in the British monarchy – yet – the Danish royals faced a similar dilemma with an ageing monarch who ultimately decided it was in the family’s best interest to hand over the reins, rather than cling to the crown until the very end.
The Danish crisis dates back to September 2022, when the octogenarian former monarch Queen Margrethe II made the decree to remove the official titles of all four of her son Prince Joachim’s children.
It was one of the last decisions she made before stepping down and passing the crown to her eldest son, now King Frederik. The move saw four of Margrethe’s grandchildren – Athena, Henrik, Felix and Nikolai – stripped of their prince and princess titles, downgrading them to counts and countesses. Frederik and Mary’s four children’s titles remained intact.
Queen Margrethe made the controversial decision as part of a long-held plan to streamline the number of working royal family members as a means to ‘future-proof’ the royal family – and copped an immense amount of backlash in the fallout.
Interestingly, this concept of a streamlined royal family may have even been borrowed from her British counterparts, with then-Prince Charles previously speaking often about his vision of a ‘slimmed down’ British monarchy, before he was installed in the top job.
But the blindsiding of the title demotion decision created understandable bitterness amongst Prince Joachim and his wife Princess Marie, who were not shy about making their unhappy feelings known regarding their children’s royal demotion.
Joachim expressed this frustration, telling B.T. at the time that his children ‘don’t know which leg to stand on as their identity is removed’ – and questioned ‘why must they be punished in that way?’.
In the Danish royal family, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie opted to leave their homeland and relocate their family to the US in 2023. Since then, they’ve made occasional appearances at royal engagements in Denmark, including at the annual New Year’s dinner
After months of murmurs about a homecoming, Marie confirmed that she and Joachim, along with their children Count Henrik and Countess Athena, will return to Denmark next year
By September 2023, it was clear they wanted out of the inner royal family operation, with Joachim accepting a position abroad as defence industry attaché at the Danish Embassy in Washington D.C. The family’s relocation meant they would no longer be on the ground as working royals in Denmark.
It signalled a clear and undeniable rift within the royal family – and created a crisis of stability. And with the remaining working royal family members on the ground so few in number, royal pundits questioned if it might splinter the entire royal family setup.
Joachim and Marie’s family have remained in the US until the present day, rarely making official royal appearances in Denmark and clearly distanced from the royal family machine – even though they never went to the extreme of announcing that they were ‘stepping back’ as senior royals, like Harry and Meghan did.
But as time passed, it appeared Prince Joachim and Princess Marie’s began to thaw. There were fewer snipy remarks in interviews and eventually even little hints about hopes of returning home.
Last month, Princess Marie confirmed in a spate of interviews that the family would indeed be returning to Denmark – an announcement that’s been met with a joyous outpouring of excitement from the Danish people.
The public perception of the royal family outliers as troublemakers has faded. In its place appears to be genuine enthusiasm about their return and reintegration into the royal family fold.
The timing also couldn’t be more imperative as Denmark continues to deal with a major political crisis – as international pressure and threats circulate around the ownership of autonomous territory, Greenland.
King Frederik and Queen Mary have thrown themselves into solidifying their kingdom, which just last month saw the Danish king visit Greenland offering a royal show of support.
King Frederik and Queen Mary, pictured here in Lithuania in January, currently have a heavy schedule of royal engagements both within Denmark and in neighbouring countries
Amid ongoing tensions over Denmark’s autonomous territory Greenland, the Danish king has also stepped up his involvement. Frederik is pictured here arriving in Greenland on February 18
This picture taken almost a decade ago during the reign of Queen Margrethe (centre) represented a time when the Danish Royal Family was flush with senior working royal members. The family are pictured with Queen Mathilde of Belgium (third from right) in 2017. From left to right Mary, Frederik, the late Prince Henrik, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie
When King Frederik and Queen Mary are tied up with other commitments, the only options left are former Queen Margrethe, now 85, or their son Prince Christian, just 20 and still in the middle of his lieutenant training.
Like the British royals, the Danes face an ongoing crisis that shows no signs of abating. It will also require as many well-meaning royal hands on deck as possible to weather the storm.
Which brings us back to the UK, and the situation that seemed an impossibility not so long ago.
Like their Danish counterparts, the British royals could benefit from a homecoming for their wayward US-based members – injecting fresh energy, renewed purpose, unity, and much-needed extra hands on deck.
But it all hinges on whether the Sussexes are willing to return – and whether William, as the future head of the House of Windsor, can look beyond the past five years and recognise that welcoming them back would ultimately strengthen his reign.
It’s not impossible. But only if all parties are willing.
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