Royal author Tina Brown says she believes Prince Harry misses being a Prince in new interview with The Telegraph UK

Prince Harry may have stepped away from his royal duties back in 2020, but the gap he’s left behind might never be filled, says a royal expert.

Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, author of The Palace Papers, has opened up on the impact Harry’s absence is having on the monarchy in an interview with The Telegraph. 

“There is still a Harry-shaped hole [in the Royal Family], but I don’t think that hole’s going to close,” Brown told the publication. The Telegraph. 

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“It’s a pity because that’s all they lack, that bit of sizzle coming out,” the royal expert explained, referencing the “side sizzle” Princess Margaret once “provided for the Queen”.

“[A ‘side-sizzle’ is] actually very good for a royal family because it takes the pressure off William and Catherine to have to be perfect, which is very boring for them.”

Brown told the publication that it was “unfortunate” how things have panned out, describing the Duke of Sussex as “the most talented in the family at human relations, like his mother”.

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The author suspects Harry may have rediscovered his passion for being a prince while avoiding his royal duty in favour of celebrity over in the US.

“He really knows how to play the role of the prince,” she told The Telegraph.  

“I think he really likes it. That’s what’s so ironic. For a bit he thought he didn’t because the palace is boring and oppressive and so on.”

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“Now he’s had a few years doing it without them, I think he really misses being a prince because he was good at it.

Brown says that while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are focusing on “doing good”, their efforts could be “much more potent” as members of the Royal Family. 

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In a previous edition of her Substack Fresh Hell Brown claimed she thought Harry and Meghan jumped the gun with their bombshell decision to leave their roles as senior working royals, and should have waited until after the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Inside the private life Harry and Meghan gave up royalty for

“The moment [Prince] William ascended to his role as Prince of Wales, there would have been new global gigs and red carpet roll-outs raining down on the Sussexes’ heads,” she wrote at the time.

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“The thing about Harry is he’s very good at being Prince Harry,” Brown said in a previous interview on The Ankler podcast.

“And that’s the tragedy of all of this; he is the most talented member of the royal family, without doubt, in terms of being a prince, which is all he does know how to do.

“He’s really sort of flawless at it.”

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