The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are coming back to Britain as dramatically, as selfishly and as disrespectfully as they left, according to columnist Carole Malone. They did not tell the King or the family they tried to destroy about their plans to return, instead leaking the news to the media they claim to despise.
Why they are returning
Malone questions why the couple are coming back to a country they previously described as a racist, toxic cesspit and a prison they had to escape. She notes that last year Harry said he could not see a world in which he would bring his wife and children back to the UK, yet they are now bringing Archie and Lillibet.
She suggests the danger has not suddenly gone away and that the couple have nowhere else to go. Malone argues that Harry and Meghan now know they made the biggest mistake of their lives leaving Britain six years ago, and with their American dream failing, they are returning to reestablish their royal credentials, their only commercial asset left.
Commercial failures and family tensions
The column claims this return is not about reconciliation or spending time with Harry's sick father, but about two people who are now a busted flush in the States with zero options. All their big money contracts have dried up, Hollywood A-listers have dumped them, and every project they have taken on has failed, making a mockery of Meghan's belief that her business ventures would make her a billionaire.
Malone says Harry's recent visits to Britain were never about spending time with the King but about reestablishing his status as a Prince, because it is the only currency he has. She also raises concerns about Meghan, who has complained about how vile Britain was for her, and suggests she is unlikely to want to come back but knows her work options in the States are drying up.
Royal summit at Balmoral
Malone highlights that Meghan has not spoken to her 82-year-old sick father for years, not even after he had a leg amputated, nor to her brother and sister. She says Meghan is coming back because she knows the high esteem in which the world holds the royals will, by proxy, be afforded to her and might repair her battered reputation, allowing her to capitalise on the commercial value.
The column identifies Prince William as a potential problem, saying he does not want to make up with the brother who sold intimate family secrets about him and his wife. Malone says William will be furious that Harry is being allowed to return after causing so much damage to his family and the Monarchy.
This move has all the ingredients of disaster, which is why there is a royal summit at Balmoral this weekend where Harry and Meghan's return, possibly to the Cotswolds, is being discussed. The Windsors will be worried the pair could set up a rival court and undermine the work the royals do. There is also the issue of trust, and on past form, Malone says the answer is a big fat no.
