At this point, those who follow the exploits of the British Royal Family are surely aware that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – have been mostly estranged from their relatives. This is due to a number of claims that Harry and his wife have leveled against his father, King Charles, older brother, Prince William, and more. Though they’ve all reportedly been on the outs, the Duke and Duchess did apparently reach out amid the hospitalizations of the King as well as William’s wife, Kate Middleton. Could this indicate that a reconciliation might be on the horizon, though? Well, a royal expert shared some thoughts on that prospect.
It goes without saying that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s decision to connect with their family at this time is a big deal, considering what’s been reported as of late. Despite that, the public may not want to read into this too deeply, it seems. Royal family expert Katie Nicholl caught up with ET to discuss the matter, and she doesn’t seem too convinced that the family will be warmly embracing anytime soon. She does believe that there is a specific reason the couple decided to reach out, though Nicholl opines that it doesn’t have anything to do with an eagerness to clear the air:
We understand that they've reached out both to the king and the Princess of Wales. Is that a thawing of relations, or is it just a human courtesy? I think probably the latter. I think it is courtesy more than the sign of any softening of relations, particularly between the couple and Princess Catherine.
Kate Middleton was recently admitted to the hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery and subsequently had to remain there for days before she could continue her recovery at home. As for King Charles, he was hospitalized while seeking treatment for an enlarged prostate, and he's since been discharged. So, based on Katie Nicholl’s sentiments above, the Duke and Duchess’ decision to drop a line represents a sign of courteousness more than anything else. Still, Nicholl does wonder whether there might still be an opportunity for all parties to make amends:
Whatever has happened, the king loves his son. We know that there were calls at the end of last year, around the time of the king's birthday. Whatever's happened between them, Harry will be concerned for his father. It's still his father. He's still gone in for an operation. Yes, a pretty standard one, but a procedure nonetheless. One wonders if this might just be the opening that's needed for a bit more dialogue between the couple and the king, and possibly even Princess Catherine.
There’s a lot of supposed emotional baggage at this point at this point, as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made allegations against the family on their docuseries, Harry & Meghan, which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription. Additionally, Harry made claims in his memoir, Spare, saying that his father made hurtful jokes about him and that William “attacked” him during an argument years ago. When Markle and her husband were interviewed by Oprah in 2021, she accused the family of making racist comments and described an incident that allegedly went down between her and Kate Middleton.
For their part, the royals have seemingly sought to distance themselves from the allegations, though it’s still been said that they hold tense feelings about their relatives, who are currently living in the United States. One source even previously said that King Charles is “punishing” Prince Harry by limiting the amount of access he can have with him, if he needs to touch base. William also apparently has strong feelings about Spare, specifically that he was “upset” by it.
What’s interesting is that a commonality with the past reports and the more recent assessment from Katie Nicholl is that a reconciliation isn’t completely out of reach. The public, for the time being, can only continue to speculate as to whether these current medical situations might start a spark that ultimately brings these relatives back into each other’s good graces.
