Royal expert Jennie Bond says that—despite the years-long rift between Prince Harry and the royal family—the family would be willing to welcome Harry back into the fold, on one very large condition: a split from wife Meghan Markle.
Per OK, Bond says “I think that Harry, without Meghan, would be forgiven and welcomed back into the royal fold in the fullness of time.” But, Bond adds, it’s “still unlikely at the moment.”
“I think there is still enough goodwill towards Harry—well, to the old Harry that we all remember,” she says. “He could recoup the ground he’s lost in time and be welcomed back. But I don’t think it’s anywhere on the horizon.”
Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell—who was in the news this week, as his name was mentioned as part of Harry’s court case against Mirror Group Newspapers—says it’s only a matter of time before Harry and Meghan part ways, leading to an eventual reconciliation with father King Charles and brother Prince William: “I have no doubt that when this happens, because we all know that it will happen, when it does happen then he will return to the United Kingdom and I think his father, the King, and his brother, the Prince of Wales, will both greet him back into the country with open arms,” Burrell says. “There is an element of Harry we all love—we just don’t understand why he’s doing what he’s doing at the moment.”
Don’t hold your breath, though. Insider reports that the entire reason Harry brought the phone hacking lawsuit to trial was because he wanted to stop the “hate” towards Meghan, specifically from the press. That sounds to us like a man who very much loves his wife.