Kong Charles kan "droppe" Prins Harry og Meghan Markle i sine planer for den kongelige familie

Sept 21, 2022

Efter Prins Philips død i april, 2021 blev det antaget, at Kong Charles III muligvis havde planer om at udelade Prins Harry og Meghan Markle fra sine fremtidige monarkiplaner. Da dronning Elizabeth II blev enke, påtog Charles sig mere ansvar for at hjælpe med at aflaste hende i nogle af hendes roller, og det blev rapporteret, at hans planer ikke inkluderede hertugen og hertuginden af Sussex. Nu hvor Charles er i toppen af den kongelige familie, efter sin mors død, vil han måske gennemføre sine planer om at reducere den kongelige families størrelse.

Ifølge den royale ekspert, Angela Levin, planlagde Charles at "droppe" Prins Harry og Meghan Markle fra den kongelige familie. Under et interview med talkRADIO i 2021 kom Levin ind på den "langvarige plan om at skære ned på størrelsen af firmaet." Hun forklarede også, hvordan Charles og den afdøde dronning tilsyneladende havde forskellige idéer om, hvad der skulle ske med hensyn til den kongelige families fremtid.

"Prins Charles har i meget lang tid ønsket at skære monarkiet ned for at spare på omkostninger, så skatteydernes penge ikke bliver spildt," sagde Levin. Hun fulgte op med sine egne tanker om, hvad det betød for Charles' fremtidsplaner. "Jeg forestiller mig, at Harry og Meghan ender med at blive droppet som medlemmer af den kongelige familie," sagde hun.

Charles og hans søn har haft et knudret forhold til hinanden gennem årene, især siden Harry besluttede sig for at fjerne sig fra den kongelige familie for at bo i USA med sin kone. Parret har siden fået to børn sammen. Selvom dronningen og hendes søn også har haft deres uoverensstemmelser, er det Charles, der som konge nu har magten til at bestemme, hvorvidt Harry og Meghan skal forblive kongelige medlemmer eller ej.

Ever since Harry and Meghan announced their departure from the royal family, rumors abounded that there were tensions in the royal family. That was confirmed after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their controversial, tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. During the television special, the couple openly criticized the royal family and its culture. They talked about various topics including how some family members worried about the color of their then-unborn son’s skin, Harry’s estrangement from his father and Meghan’s very dark, depressing thoughts.

The relationship between Harry and his father King Charles III hadn't appeared particularly close in the past but the interview all but confirmed it. However, soon after the interview aired, Prince Philip passed away in April 2021. Although it was a time of mourning for the royal family, Philip's funeral, in some ways, was a segue for the family to heal after a tumultuous time. It was also the first time that Harry and his family reunited after his and Meghan's abrupt departure in March 2020.

According to Express UK, Charles was reported to be "very hurt" following the interview in March 2021, and to assuage the hurt and work with the family during the difficult time of the funeral, Harry wrote his father a "deeply personal" letter.

Following the controversial interview with Winfrey, Metro UK reported that Harry's relationship with his father hit "rock bottom" after a "complete communication breakdown." Charles was thought to be "very hurt" after the two-hour special aired, especially because Harry accused Charles of no longer taking his calls. As per the news outlet, sources claim that Harry was "forced to write letters" to his father because of the lack of communication. 

In one of the letters, NZ Herald reported that Harry "outlined his reasons for leaving" his position as a senior member of the royal family and added that he would continue to "respect the institution" while living his new life in California. Harry also reached out to his father before he prepared to reunite with his family for the first time since leaving for the US in March 2020. 

Metro UK also reported that a royal source said at the time, "He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped." The source continued, "There had been a kind of unspoken agreement between everyone to park whatever has been on each person's mind, and solely concentrate on supporting the Queen ahead of Prince Philip's funeral."

Earlier, "the feeling inside the camp was that it wasn't the time nor the place to go over things, especially at such an emotional time for everybody involved," but later news reports also stated that peace talks between the family members seemed to have begun by the time Harry visited the UK for his grandfather's funeral. 

After the funeral had ended, Harry was seen talking with his brother William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, which raised hopes that the siblings had finally begun to thaw their frosty relationship. The moment was believed to be the first time the brothers had spoken in person after Harry and Meghan's controversial interview was released.

Following their brief conversation, the brothers met for "peace talks," as reported by the Daily Mail, away from the cameras in Windsor Castle and with the inclusion of their father Charles. About this, a royal insider told Metro UK, "There is no way this is the end of the crisis in their relationships but it’s a good gesture and a nice way to take the first step towards healing."  

After Harry's trip, he returned to California to be reunited with his family, and in June 2021, Meghan gave birth to the couple's daughter Lilibet. Compared with their time as working royals in the UK, the Sussexes have enjoyed a different kind of life in sunny California with their two children. It seems that life in Montecito, California, offers a particular kind of freedom that the couple didn't get when they were still a part of the royal family and lived in the UK.

The family's life there is laid back and Harry and Meghan are able to parent Archie and Lilibet as they wish. In fact, Archie attends a nursery school that offers more than the traditional kinds of teachings — although those are still represented, of course.

British publication The Mirror spoke with a parent of one of the other children who attends the nursery. Unsurprisingly, little Archie seems to garner a lot less attention than he would get if he were to attend an English nursery school. The parent said:

"Harry often drops Archie off and picks him up, and seems like a good dad. All the parents have been laid back in welcoming Harry and Meghan, without making a fuss. And to the other kids, Archie is just one of them. They don't know his parents are royalty, and probably wouldn't care — unless Meghan was a Disney princess."

Harry has taken to fatherhood incredibly well, and he doesn’t just talk about mental health, he practices self-care every chance he gets. The father acknowledges that as busy parents, sometimes caring for your own needs gets lost along the way. "The self-care is the first thing that drops away. I'm happy to admit that — as a husband, as a dad," he said.

Although they aren't in the public eye as much as they once were, the Sussexes do share moments from their life from time to time, including official interviews and projects they've worked on. In 2021, Harry released a TV show with Winfrey titled, “The Me You Can’t See." He later went on to have a book deal of his own, with his first official memoir coming out sometime in fall 2022. Through it all, the Duke of Sussex has been dedicated to breaking stigmas surrounding mental health and providing resources to help as many people as possible.

But while Harry and Meghan were busy living their life in California, the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II brought their strained relationship with the royal family back into question. Alongside mourning the late queen — who reigned for an unprecedented 70 years — the royal family experienced several new changes in the line of succession to the throne and new titles for several royal family members. 

Now that Charles is monarch, it's unclear how secure Harry and Meghan's roles in the royal family will be. A royal commentator revealed, in the wake of Philip's death in 2021, that Charles may have had plans to cut the Sussexes out of the royal family when he became king, despite Elizabeth's wishes.

I modsætning til sin søn syntes den afdøde dronning Elizabeth at ville holde familien samlet, uanset hvad det måtte koste. "Jeg tror, at den yderste kant, som dronningen har ønsket at holde sammen i meget lang tid af sentimentale årsager, hvilket hun i sin alder ikke rigtig ønskede særlig meget forandring, hvilket jeg synes er forståeligt," forklarede Levin tilbage i 2021.

Charles og dronningen tilbragte tid sammen efter Philips død, i dagene forud for parlamentets statsåbning den 11. maj 2021. Begivenheden markerer formelt starten på en session i parlamentet i Det Forenede Kongerige og omfatter typisk en tale fra tronen, som blev holdt af dronningen. Hun åbnede hver eneste session i parlamentet, siden hun blev dronning, undtagen i 1959 og 1963, da hun var gravid. Charles ledsagede dronningen under begivenheden i 2021, som endte med at blive hendes sidste, da dårligt helbred betød, at hun ikke kunne være til stede ved åbningen af parlamentet i 2022, som blev åbnet af Charles og hans søn, William, Prince of Wales, da de vikarierede for dronningen.

Levin talte om dronningens fremtidige rolle tilbage i 2021 og sagde: "Jeg tror, at selv om hun ønsker at udføre sine pligter, vil hun træde tilbage, endnu mere, det vil være ret svært at komme tilbage efter pandemien og al isolationen." Levin afsluttede sine tanker om dronningens fremtid og hendes forhold til Charles: "Faktisk vil hun være taknemmelig for, at han tager over og træffer, kan jeg forestille mig, ret store beslutninger på vegne af den kongelige familie."

På trods af at dronningen nåede frem til sin betydningsfulde platinjubilæumsfejring, døde hun den 8. september 2022. Nu hvor Charles er konge, vil han have frie hænder til at gå videre med sine planer om at skære Harry og Meghan ud, hvis han ønsker det.

Charles og hans søn Harry har haft deres andel af op- og nedture i deres forhold. Charles var angiveligt "meget såret" efter Oprah Winfrey-interviewet fra marts 2021, og for at dulme smerten og arbejde sammen med familien i den svære tid med begravelsen skrev Harry ifølge Express UK et "dybt personligt" brev til sin far.

Metro UK rapporterede, at Harrys forhold til sin far ramte "bunden" efter et "fuldstændigt sammenbrud i kommunikationen" Charles' smerte efter den to timer lange specialudsendelse var dybere, især fordi Harry beskyldte Charles for ikke længere at tage imod hans opkald. Ifølge nyhedsmediet hævder kilder, at Harry var "tvunget til at skrive breve" til sin far på grund af den manglende kommunikation

Publikationen rapporterede også, at en kongelig kilde sagde: "Han skrev en dybt personlig note til sin far for at forsøge at rette op på tingene, men spændingerne er stadig høje, og tingene har ikke ligefrem glattet sig på den måde, som han havde håbet." Kilden fortsatte: "Der havde været en slags uudtalt aftale mellem alle om at parkere alt det, der har været på hver enkelt persons sind, og udelukkende koncentrere sig om at støtte dronningen forud for prins Philips begravelse." Philip blev stedt til hvile den 17. april 2021. Elizabeths begravelse fandt sted den 19. september 2022, og Harry og Meghan rejste begge til Storbritannien for at være der sammen med den kongelige familie.

Det roskilde forhold mellem far og søn kan helt sikkert have en finger med i spillet i Charles' endelige beslutning om, hvorvidt han vil inkludere sin søn og svigerdatter i sine monarkiplaner. Harry og hans far har en lang vej at gå med at genopbygge deres forhold med henblik på den kongelige families fremtid.

Hvad synes du om Kong Charles og hans beslutning om at udelukke hertugen og hertuginden af Sussex? Skriv din mening i kommentarfeltet nedenunder, og del denne historie med dine venner og familie.