'Stubborn, lost, irrelevant': inside Prince Harry's bid to make it back into the royal fold

At Lord Fellowes’ funeral in Norfolk last month, all eyes were on two rather recognisable figures — the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex . According to reports, Prince Harry made a last-minute, clandestine trip to the UK to be at the funeral of his much-loved uncle, where he was reunited with his brother. But any hopes of a reconciliation between the estranged pair were swiftly dashed, when one local confirmed the brothers were there but that they “never saw them speak to each other and they were keeping their distance.

The funeral marked the first time the divided siblings have been in the same room together this year, and the brothers are understood not to have spoken since the Queen’s funeral, when they “barely exchanged a word”, as Harry wrote in Spare . Relations with his father are said to be increasingly strained too, with reports suggesting the King doesn’t always answer his younger son’s calls. As such, Harry is set to cut a rather lonely figure when he celebrates his 40th birthday in California this Sunday, surrounded by Meghan and his children, yes, but with his father, brother and other members of his family glaringly absent.

It’s a far cry from the Duke’s last milestone birthday. Then, a 30-year-old Harry was fourth in line to the throne and at the heart of the Firm. Regularly voted the most popular member of the royal family, he celebrated his birthday with a black-tie bash at Clarence House thrown by his brother, with bottles of Highgrove champagne sent by his father. Today, those closest to him say he’s at a crossroads, with his future uncertain. Many of his projects in the US haven’t panned out the way he’d like, and friends say he spends more time looking back than forwards. “Harry’s a bit of a lost soul, in that he's lost his chief official role in life,” says Stephen Bates, author of Royalty Inc: Britain’s Best-Known Brand . “He's become an irrelevance stuck in a golden cage.”

Perhaps that’s why rumours have been swirling recently that Harry’s keen to make a return to the royal fold. It’s said the Duke has been consulting former aides about a possible partial return to the UK, as he seeks to “rehabilitate” his image in Britain. There are reports that a “blueprint” is being drawn up for Harry’s return, with old friends of the Duke said to be calling it “Operation Bring Harry In From The Cold” . Harry has made no secret of the fact he originally wanted to stay on as a semi-royal, a notion the late Queen immediately quashed.

Harry’s a bit of a lost soul, in that he's lost his chief official role in life. He's become an irrelevance stuck in a golden cage

“Harry is notoriously very stubborn, and we know he wanted the half-in, half-out royal life that the late Queen denied him,” says LA-based royal expert and host of the To Di For Daily podcast Kinsey Schofield. “He seems determined to make it happen, which we're seeing manifested through these fake royal tours.”

This year alone Harry and Meghan have embarked on two quasi-royal tours, first to Nigeria in May and then Colombia last month, where the Sussexes spent four days salsa dancing and trying out their Spanish. The Colombia trip cost the country almost £45,000, with Harry and Meghan using their semi-public events to talk about women’s empowerment, mental health in schools and digital wellness. But royal tours they are not, and insiders remain thoroughly dubious about their recent antics. “The Sussexes have a very odd status right now, because their selling power is rather diminished,” says Bates. “Their various projects seem to be petering out for lack of ideas, and they're going around the world to these fairly insalubrious places. It all seems rather meaningless.”

An old friend of Harry’s has suggested that if he came back to the UK with “zero fuss, zero publicity and attends very mundane events, he could prove himself and win over the British public again”. The same friend continued: “He would have to accept that he might be reduced to ribbon-cutting for a long time.”

Many would argue that the “zero fuss” approach doesn’t exactly seem to be in the Sussexes’ wheelhouse right now. But whether it would take a gradual, low-key approach or a grand gesture on Harry’s behalf, the fact remains that as things stand, the royal family seems to be in no position to welcome him back into the fold.

Even if Charles, as his father, could be persuaded to forgive and forget eventually, the Queen is unlikely to feel the same way, particularly after Harry said on international TV that Camilla was prepared to leave "bodies in the street” if it helped her own public image. William, meanwhile, is said to rarely speak about his brother – with those closest to him saying he “isn’t really something that’s discussed” – and that as things stand, he would not want Harry at his coronation, whenever that time comes.

“Harry has been too destructive and selfish over the last few years for senior members of the royal family to welcome him back,” says Schofield. “Harry and Meghan's actions have been ruthless and cruel. The family is not interested in their drama.”

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