Buckingham Palace will fear that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be a "distraction" and "overshadow" the Royal Family when they return to the UK, according to a former palace staffer.
Ailsa Anderson, who served as press secretary to the late Queen for over a decade, suggested the palace would be "fairly astonished" by news of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's planned homecoming. She told The Sun's Royal Exclusive podcast: "As ever, this story breaks, it's the lead item on every news programme and it's all about Harry and Meghan. I just think that the great things that the Royal Family are doing on a day-to-day basis now [have] the potential to be overshadowed by whatever [Harry and Meghan] do in the UK."
Sussexes' return announced
The news emerged on Wednesday that Harry and Meghan have decided to return to the UK for an extended period starting this autumn. They will not resume their roles as working members of the Royal Family, having stepped back as senior working royals in 2020 before moving to North America.
Ms Anderson, whose royal comms work included the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine as well as Prince George's birth, suggested the Sussexes' return would divert attention away from the royals. She told Royal Exclusive: "They will prove to be, once again, a distraction."
No palace response
Buckingham Palace has not issued a response to the news of Harry and Meghan's return, which is just days away. The Palace has a policy of not commenting on speculation about non-working members of the Royal Family.
King Charles, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, was informed of the couple's plans on Sunday.
Strained relations and legal battles
Since stepping back as working royals, Harry and Meghan have remained firmly in the limelight, with their relationship with members of the wider Royal Family seemingly strained to breaking point at times.
In a series of interviews and Harry's memoir Spare, the couple said they left Britain to escape the restrictions of royal life and criticised palace officials for being insensitive to Meghan's mental health. They also alleged that at least one member of the Royal Family had expressed racist views when Meghan was pregnant with their first child, Prince Archie. Harry later rowed back on claims of racism.
Those tensions were made worse by Harry's long-running legal battle with tabloid newspapers, which he alleges illegally hacked his phones and invaded his privacy when he was younger. It emerged on Friday (August 21) that Harry and six others, including Elton John, have been ordered to pay an initial £9.5million to the publisher of the Daily Mail after their failed invasion of privacy court case.
Royal family gathers at Balmoral
Meanwhile, the Royal Family have been gathering at Balmoral for their summer break. King Charles arrived at the Windsors' Aberdeenshire retreat on Tuesday and the Prince and Princess of Wales have since been pictured at the estate, as well as Princess Anne and her brother, Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh.
William and Kate have not reacted publicly to the news of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's return, but may have private conversations with the wider family during the break. The future king is estranged from his younger brother after Harry levelled a barrage of accusations against him, his wife, the King and Queen Camilla.
