No way back for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they fall further in popularity with British public, what would it take for Duke of Sussex to be forgiven by his family | Opinion

OPINION – – Things seem to be going from bad to worse for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at least when it comes to how they are viewed by the public.

Prince Harry’s decision to sit down with the BBC to speak about his family has appeared to backfire, resulting in a major drop in popularity in his former homeland.

The latest polling results, coupled with the long-running feud with his royal relatives, prompts the question: what would it take for Prince Harry to come back from this self-inflicted banishment?

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And would he be welcomed by his family or the public?

For many watching this sad royal drama unfold from the outside, it really does seem that – right now at least – there is no way back for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.

His decision to sit down with the BBC for a 30-minute interview on May 2 has been widely viewed as a bad one, an ill-fated move that has backfired for the prince.

Some might suggest it has similarities with the last time a senior member of the British royal was interviewed with the BBC, which didn’t end well.

In 2019, the Duke of York agreed to a high-stakes interview with Newsnight, the first time Prince Andrew had spoken publicly about accusations made against him by Virginia Giuffre.

Throughout the hour-long sit-down, the duke failed to express any remorse for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and made a series of excuses when his own involvement was questioned. He has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Days after the interview, Prince Andrew stepped back from all public duties following a public outcry over his performance.

One palace source described it as “one of the single worst PR moves in recent history”.

The duke was later stripped of his patronages and military affiliations by his mother the Queen and banned from using the ‘His Royal Highness’ prefix.

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If Prince Andrew hoped that a TV interview would stop the flow of negative press coverage he faced over his Epstein links, he could not have been more wrong.

While the situation with his nephew Prince Harry is very different and under very different circumstances, the comparisons aren’t entirely without merit.

Similarities can also be made with other shocking interviews royals have done that, at the time, caused an outcry, but later saw the royals involved be largely forgiven for being so outspoken.

In 1994, then-Prince Charles became one of the first royals to tell-all on camera, speaking to his biographer Jonathan Dimbleby about rumours he’d had an extra-marital affair, which his estranged wife had claimed in Andrew Morton’s book two years earlier.

“Did you try to be faithful and honourable to you wife when you took on the vow of marriage?’ Dimbleby asked.

“Yes. Absolutely,” Charles said.

“And you were?”

“Yes. Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried,” the prince admitted.

In 1995, Diana, then Princess of Wales, stunned the world talking about her husband’s affair on television to millions of viewers, saying the famous line: “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded”.

Diana also spoke about her own affair with James Hewitt, her battle with bulimia and – most damaging to the monarchy – said “my husband is not fit for the top job”.

Years later, Diana’s friend and biographer Tina Brown said the princess had “no regrets” about the interview, adding she “had said exactly what she wanted to say on camera”.

Another memorable moment came in 2010 when the Duchess of York went on Oprah to offer a public apology after being caught in an undercover sting offering to sell access to Prince Andrew to a reporter posing as a businessman.

Each interview took the world by surprise, and no doubt caused PR issues for the royals who had been so candid, but ultimately they all were largely forgiven by the public over time.

The Duke of Sussex took many people, including the royal household, by surprise by speaking to the British broadcaster soon after losing his legal challenge to reinstate taxpayer-funded security while in the UK.

Over what was supposed to be a 10-minute chat that turned into a half hour conversation, Harry made a series of extraordinary comments about the royals while claiming it “would be nice to reconcile” with his family.

In comments likely to deepen the long-running rift between Buckingham Palace and the Sussexes, the duke said he didn’t “know how much longer my father has”, in reference to the monarch’s cancer battle, adding the King “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff”.

Peace, or at the very least a truce, between Prince Harry and his family seems more unlikely than ever.

Two days after Harry’s interview, which took place in California, a palace insider said the duke had “simply lost touch with reality”, suggesting the move was proof the prince “doesn’t get the message”.

The insider told The Telegraph UK: “His father has avoided all his efforts for the last few years to speak on the phone or try to get messages to him through various circles.

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“This TV moment shows his desperation and refusal to accept any responsibility for attacks on the royals, attempts to undermine the institution and vicious claims about racism and bullying.

“One of Charles’ team labelled him ‘deluded’ for thinking a media interview, quite clearly poking at his father and brother, could force any talks.”

Less than a week after the interview aired, YouGov surveyed more than 2000 Brits asking for their opinions on the royal family.

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The results were revealed on Thursday and revealed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had plummeted in the popularity stakes, with Harry’s favourability rating dropping to 27 per cent, its lowest for more than two years.

As for Meghan, her popularity fell to 20 per cent – the lowest since YouGov began tracking it in 2017, the year she and Prince Harry announced their engagement.

The poll suggested members of the public have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the Sussexes, five years after their royal exit.

And it’s a sad state of affairs for Prince Harry, who was once one of – if not the – most popular British royal.

In 2011, he had an approval rating of 80 per cent.

Back then, the prince was riding a wave of popularity fresh off Prince William and Kate’s royal wedding when he acted as best man to his brother, their close bond on show for the world to see and viewers loved it.

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He and William were regular fixtures on the polo fields together and he often joined his brother and sister-in-law on royal engagements, making a powerful trio.

That same year, Harry was promoted to the rank of captain in the British Army after five years’ service. He was also training to be an Apache helicopter pilot after serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan, becoming the first royal in more than 25 years to serve in a war zone.

In 2011, Harry received widespread praise when he joined a group of wounded servicemen for a challenging expedition to the North Pole.

It seemed that Harry, who had come through his days of being the party prince, could do no wrong.

He appeared to finally have found his life’s purpose in 2014 when he launched the Invictus Games, which has becoming his greatest legacy to date.

However, things soon began to fall apart.

Relations between William and Harry had been strained for decades behind the scenes, with tensions between the brothers stretching back to their teenage years which Harry detailed in his book, Spare.

But it was Prince Harry’s relationship, and then marriage, to Meghan that saw an escalation in the situation not just with his brother, but with his father the King.

The publication of Harry’s memoir, and the countless interviews he and Meghan have done since stepping away from official duties in 2020 have resulted in the Sussexes falling out of favour with the public and also the royal family.

Days after the publication of his memoir, Harry’s popularity dropped to its lowest ever at just 24 per cent.

Sadly, the duke often appears to be a shadow of his former self and the happy, cheeky royal we got used to seeing in photos and footage has disappeared.

Having observed him in throughout the royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2018 when he brought his new wife, and the Invictus Games, to Sydney for the very first time the duke frequently looked glum. Bored even.

And this was a man who, months earlier, had married the love of his life months earlier and was soon to be a a father for the first time. His beloved Invictus Games, too, was hugely popular and quickly expanding. 

It should have been the happiest time of his life.

In Prince Harry’s many appearances alongside Meghan in the years since, during their quasi-royal tours of Colombia and Nigeria and regular outings in the US at speaking events and concerts (he and Meghan recently shared photos from concerts by Beyoncé, and James Taylor) the duke seems to lack the spark he once had.

Royal observers did see a glimpse of the ‘old Harry’ when he returned to the UK in October last year for the WellChild Awards, a charity he has supported for 16 years as its patron.

He appeared in his element alongside the children, beaming and playing and picking up toys that had been thrown on the floor and laughing when one of the children couldn’t resist grabbing his beard.

The outing also happened to be Harry’s seventh high-profile appearance in just a week without the Duchess of Sussex, something which brought a lot of attention because of their approach of doing this separately.

ITV’s royal editor Chris Ship, who was at the event, later told 9honey: “When you see Harry as I did, just connect on a one to one level with the award winners from that WellChild charity that he is a patron of, you cannot do anything other than praise him for those kind of efforts”.

Prince Harry says he wants reconciliation with the royal family but his decision to speak publicly about his family to the BBC is unlikely to encourage the King or Prince of Wales to reach out.

As for Meghan, she seems perfectly content with her new life now that she’s had a major rebrand as a lifestyle influencer with a cooking show on Netflix, a new podcast and a successful food and homewares brand.

BBC journalist Nada ­Tawfik who interviewed Harry earlier this month said he was “very aware of the consequences of continuing to do interviews” and “speaking out”.

“And yet he doesn’t regret what he has done in the past,” she added.

While Prince Harry did not name his brother in the interview, he did say “some members of my family will never forgive” his decision to write a book.

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He added: “Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things. But I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight any more.”

The Sussexes would need to show unwavering support to both the King and Queen Camilla and Prince William and Catherine for any chance at being let back into the fold, now or under the future reign of his brother.

If not that, then what else would bridge the divide between the two sides?

As Harry said, ”there’s no point in continuing to fight”.

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