Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been warned that they must 'keep their mouths shut' and avoid all public interviews if they hope to rebuild their fractured relationship and regain Prince William's trust.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams expressed hope that mutual friends in the Cotswolds might help to mend the brothers' strained relationship, but advised that for now, the Sussexes should keep a low profile.
Royal commentators urge discretion
"They have to keep their mouths shut this time," Fitzwilliams said. "No more Oprah, no more Spare, no more complaining. The key words are trust and discretion. We know the Sussexes can be unscrupulous and ruthless when they want to be."
"All the interest in what they will do and say next distracts from the actual business of royalty, from their work, because their return to the UK has knocked the other royals off the front pages," he explained.
Mutual friends as a bridge
"It might be that their mutual friends can act as a bridge to bring William and Harry back together now that they are both in the UK," Fitzwilliams also suggested.
Echoing these sentiments, fellow royal commentator and writer Robert Jobson, author of The Windsor Legacy, agreed, adding "there must be no further public commentary on the family, no sequel, no sit-down interviews about the rift, and no charity visits staged with invited photographers so the pictures read as royal engagements."
A promising start?
However, Channel Five's royal editor Simon Vigar, author of The Four Wives of Windsor, reckons the Sussexes are off to a promising start. He noted: "Trust is a very delicate thing. Nothing was leaked from the Highgrove meeting with the King and Queen in July so that is a good start. Whether William is interested in reconciliation is the big question."
The rift between the two brothers goes far beyond typical sibling squabbles, rooted deeply in anger, resentment and a complete breakdown of trust. Much of it has unfolded under the public gaze, much to William's chagrin.
Close pals of the Prince of Wales suggest he's not in a forgiving mood just yet. "William is very stubborn," a family friend revealed to the BBC. "To feel cheated by your own brother has been painful. He can't just put it behind him."
However, in a chat with the BBC last year Harry maintained: "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight any more."
"I think William doesn't care about the pressure to reconcile," opined royal author Valentine Low. "If he doesn't want to reconcile with his brother because of the things he's done, the wrongs that he feels Harry's done to him, he's not going to reconcile."
Yet Low concurred that Harry's return to the UK does "improve the chances I think" of a potential reunion, possibly in time for the 30th anniversary of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales's death next year.
