Meghan Markle remained notably absent from Prince Harry's latest media appearance, a move that one royal commentator believes was her smartest decision yet. During Harry's interview with GQ magazine, Meghan did not appear alongside him, breaking from her usual pattern of joining in on such occasions.
Silence over substance
Express reporter Chris Riches noted that Meghan's silence felt louder than any past interview. He wrote that while Harry, 42, was performing what he described as "another unnuanced and undiplomatic TV and magazine interview," Meghan was nowhere to be seen.
This comes after Meghan, 45, was seen engaging with well-wishers at a recent engagement in Nottingham, where Harry reportedly told her: "We've got to go!"
Harry's latest grievances
In the GQ interview, Harry bemoaned his frosty relationship with his father and Queen Camilla and the non-existent one he currently shares with William and Kate, saying: "Some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out. With everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile - that's the key point. [...] Scars stick around forever."
The interview was preceded by a video teaser timed to coincide with the Royal Family welcoming the Sultan of Oman to Windsor for a state visit, a move that drew criticism for overshadowing the occasion.
A step back from the fallout
Riches suggested that Meghan's decision to stay out of the spotlight may indicate she has "slightly wised up and learned a valuable lesson." He noted that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Meghan is currently dealing with disturbing allegations made against her father, Thomas Markle, following reports that images of child sexual abuse allegedly belonging to him had been found at his former home in the Philippines. Thomas Markle, who is 82 and based in the US, denies possessing any such images.
Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, alleged he found child abuse images at his father's home in the Philippines and reported them to the police. The Undersecretary for the Philippines Department of Justice, Nicholas Ty, told the BBC that "the matter is currently being investigated" by an anti-human trafficking and child sexual exploitation task force in Cebu.
Riches concluded that with all this swirling round, Meghan "quite rightly took a step back so she could stand clear of the fallout," suggesting that if Harry and the Royal Family want to rebuild trust, someone has to act as the peacemaker, a role he believes Meghan may now be best suited for.
