Prince Harry Could “Make Some Form of Reconciliation” with the Royal Family for the Coronation, Expert Says

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published 29 January 2023

Tensions have arguably never been higher between Prince Harry (and, vis a vis, Meghan Markle) and the rest of the royal family than they are right now, but, according to Us Weekly, the royal family might be willing to “temporarily bury the hatchet” for the sake of King Charles’ Coronation, quickly approaching in three months’ time.

“I suspect that there are some efforts going on to try and make some form of reconciliation…I think because they don’t want [family tensions] to upstage what’s going on on that very important day,” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti tells the outlet. “Whether or not that’s possible is one thing, and whether or not it’s lasting is another thing. Even if they do manage to make some form of peace, [it] might be temporary. I think it’s going to be extremely difficult for them as a family—and, more broadly, for the nation and for the institution—to forgive what’s happened.”

What’s happened, you ask? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know: First, Harry and Meghan’s departure as working members of the royal family three years ago this month (!), followed by a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, and now, closer to present day, a six-part eponymous Netflix docuseries, Harry’s explosive memoir, Spare, and a handful of interviews to promote all of it. Harry’s comments about his family—not just Charles but stepmother Camilla, sister-in-law Kate, and, most especially, older brother Prince William—don’t bode well for a lasting reconciliation, Sacerdoti says.

“I think Harry and Meghan have said they’re expecting an apology, but I think there aren’t many people who agree that it’s due that way ‘round,” he says. “Some of the individuals within [Spare]—the King, the Queen [Consort], and the Prince of Wales—all come out of that book so badly. They’re so broadly criticized by Harry, so nastily criticized in sections, that I think they could be feeling very sore about this.”

Heretofore, the royal family has kept completely silent about Harry’s accusations in the book.

“But above all else, I think they [the royal family] might also be feeling that they just want to keep quiet because they don’t want to provoke any more of this sort of thing, which is damaging not just to them emotionally and personally, but to the nation, because this is an attack effectively on part of the Constitution of Great Britain,” Sacerdoti says.

The potential truce—temporary or not—comes ahead of the Coronation in just three months’ time: May 6 at Westminster Abbey, coincidentally the same day as Harry and Meghan’s son Archie’s fourth birthday.

“We’re expecting, probably, the Prince and Princess of Wales to take part and maybe their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis,” Sacerdoti says. “And we may also—who knows—see Harry and Meghan included in that, and their children, as well.”

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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.