The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have denied claims their public appearances at events promoting the Invictus Games are “make or break” if they want to save their relationship with the Royal Family.
It comes after the Telegraph’s Royal Editor claimed that the couple have “three days to prove they can behave” as they began a series of public appearances in Canada to promote the 2025 games.
Harry founded the Paralympic-style sporting competition in 2014 for injured and sick military personnel and veterans to aid their recovery.
Next year will see around 550 competitors from up to 25 nations compete in a variety of indoor events, including volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
Harry, who lives in California with his wife and their two children – Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet – flew to the UK last week to meet with the King following his cancer diagnosis. His trip to the UK raised hopes that the Duke may be able to repair relations with his family.
Ms Furness wrote that the chances of Harry being asked about his father in Canada are “high” and that “Palace insiders will be watching from afar with morbid curiosity to see what their cross-Atlantic outpost will say and do”.
She added: “The next three days will be make or break. More than ever before, the Sussexes must make a decision."
But a spokesperson for the Sussexes hit back at the suggestion that the event was “make or break”.
They said: “We’ve heard time and time again that certain opportunities are make or break for the couple. They’re still here. They’re still working and pursuing what they believe in, despite constantly being challenged and criticised. This couple will not be broken.”
It comes just days after the Duke and Duchess launched a new website.
Their previous Archewell site now automatically redirects to “Sussex.com”, which consistently refers to the couple by their official royal titles.
But a source told the Daily Mail that the couple could have “real trouble with the use of Sussex”, adding: “It is a royal title and if there is any hint of commercialism about this it will be shut down.”
Ms Markle has since praised the “attention to detail” and “creativity and care” of the designers at Article, the firm which helped launch the site.
On Tuesday, the Duchess announced a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media after parting ways with Spotify last year.
The company confirmed it had signed a deal with Ms Markle for a new podcast series and to distribute her previous Spotify series, Archetypes, on all podcast platforms.
It comes a year after the Duke and Duchess parted ways with Spotify by mutual consent. The couple produced one 13-episode series for the platform after signing a £15.8m deal in 2020.
