Royal biographer Tom Bower has described Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first joint appearance since moving back to the UK as a "catastrophe" for the Royal Family. The Sussexes stepped out in Nottingham on Thursday (October 16), where they were greeted by crowds ahead of visiting three charitable engagements in the city.
Biographer's scathing assessment
Bower argued that Harry, 42, and Meghan, 45, are "determined to grab the spotlight," despite being non-working royals. "I think the Royal Family does need to put them down because the challenges over the next months will be to undermine the King, target William and Kate and promote themselves," he told GB News presenter Patrick Christys.
He also criticised Buckingham Palace for how the situation has been handled, believing it will only get worse if they don't take "strong action."
Nottingham appearance significance
Patrick highlighted the significance of the Sussexes choosing Nottingham for their first joint public appearance, having returned to the city where they first appeared together publicly following their engagement announcement in 2017. The presenter added that it looked as though Harry and Meghan were acting as working royals.
"That was deliberate. The crowds were tiny, a lot were shipped in especially. The optics were all conjured," Tom remarked. "She is a D-list actress, she has no mystery, she has no talent - but she married into one of the most famous families in the world. And now she is back here to milk it."
Call to strip titles
"The real challenge they're putting to the Royal Family is that, if they keep pretending to be royals when they've clearly been told they're private citizens, what effect will that have on our Royal Family?" The author issued a brutal attack on Meghan, branding her "ruthless" and claiming her main aim is to make money.
"The real question is whether the Royal Family is savvy enough to neutralise the threat," he went on. When asked about what King Charles could actually do to achieve this, Tom made the suggestion that the monarch should strip the Sussexes of their titles.
Slamming Harry, Tom added: "His autobiography Spare caused huge damage and huge hurt to William, Kate, Camilla, the King, to everyone, so what you're faced with is a man who isn't as dim as we think because he's calculating too. My view is that the only way to do it will be for the Palace to tell him, 'If you carry on like this, we will strip you of your titles.'"
Patrick suggested what many people are thinking, questioning what the harm is in Harry and Meghan's recent joint appearance. "The harm is that they had six years of defaming the Royal Family and Britain. The damage done to Britain's reputation by Meghan is colossal," he argued.
