King Charles Could 'Ditch' Prince Harry And Meghan Markle In His Royal Family Plans

Sep 20, 2022 by apost team

Following the death of Prince Philip in April 2021, it was believed that King Charles III possibly planned to leave out one of his sons and daughter-in-law in his future monarchy plans. When Queen Elizabeth II became a widow, Charles took on more responsibility to help relieve her of some of her roles, and it was reported that his plans seemed to leave out both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Now that Charles is in the top spot of the royal family following his mother's passing, he may go through with his plans of reducing the royal family's size.

According to royal biographer Angela Levin, Charles planned to “ditch” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from the royal family. During an interview with talkRADIO in 2021, Levin addressed the “long-held plan to cut the size of the firm down.” She also explained how Charles and the late queen seemed to have different ideas on what to do regarding the future of the royal family.

“Prince Charles has wanted for a very long time to cut the monarchy down to save costs and to make people be worth the money that they got from the taxpayer,” Levin said. She followed up with her own thoughts on what that meant for Charles’ future plans. "I imagine that might be when Harry and Meghan are ditched from being members of the royal family," she said.

Charles and his son have had a rough relationship over the years, especially since Harry decided to remove himself from the royal family to live in the United States with his wife. The pair have since had two children together. Although the queen and her son also had their differences, now that he is king, Charles is the one making the calls. 

Ever since Harry and Meghan announced their departure from the royal family, rumors abounded that there were tensions in the royal family. That was confirmed after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their controversial, tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. During the television special, the couple openly criticized the royal family and its culture. They talked about various topics including how some family members worried about the color of their then-unborn son’s skin, Harry’s estrangement from his father and Meghan’s very dark, depressing thoughts.

The relationship between Harry and his father King Charles III hadn't appeared particularly close in the past but the interview all but confirmed it. However, soon after the interview aired, Prince Philip passed away in April 2021. Although it was a time of mourning for the royal family, Philip's funeral, in some ways, was a segue for the family to heal after a tumultuous time. It was also the first time that Harry and his family reunited after his and Meghan's abrupt departure in March 2020.

According to Express UK, Charles was reported to be "very hurt" following the interview in March 2021, and to assuage the hurt and work with the family during the difficult time of the funeral, Harry wrote his father a "deeply personal" letter.

Following the controversial interview with Winfrey, Metro UK reported that Harry's relationship with his father hit "rock bottom" after a "complete communication breakdown." Charles was thought to be "very hurt" after the two-hour special aired, especially because Harry accused Charles of no longer taking his calls. As per the news outlet, sources claim that Harry was "forced to write letters" to his father because of the lack of communication. 

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In one of the letters, NZ Herald reported that Harry "outlined his reasons for leaving" his position as a senior member of the royal family and added that he would continue to "respect the institution" while living his new life in California. Harry also reached out to his father before he prepared to reunite with his family for the first time since leaving for the US in March 2020. 

Metro UK also reported that a royal source said at the time, "He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped." The source continued, "There had been a kind of unspoken agreement between everyone to park whatever has been on each person's mind, and solely concentrate on supporting the Queen ahead of Prince Philip's funeral."

Earlier, "the feeling inside the camp was that it wasn't the time nor the place to go over things, especially at such an emotional time for everybody involved," but later news reports also stated that peace talks between the family members seemed to have begun by the time Harry visited the UK for his grandfather's funeral. 

After the funeral had ended, Harry was seen talking with his brother William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, which raised hopes that the siblings had finally begun to thaw their frosty relationship. The moment was believed to be the first time the brothers had spoken in person after Harry and Meghan's controversial interview was released.

Following their brief conversation, the brothers met for "peace talks," as reported by the Daily Mail, away from the cameras in Windsor Castle and with the inclusion of their father Charles. About this, a royal insider told Metro UK, "There is no way this is the end of the crisis in their relationships but it’s a good gesture and a nice way to take the first step towards healing."  

After Harry's trip, he returned to California to be reunited with his family, and in June 2021, Meghan gave birth to the couple's daughter Lilibet. Compared with their time as working royals in the UK, the Sussexes have enjoyed a different kind of life in sunny California with their two children. It seems that life in Montecito, California, offers a particular kind of freedom that the couple didn't get when they were still a part of the royal family and lived in the UK.

The family's life there is laid back and Harry and Meghan are able to parent Archie and Lilibet as they wish. In fact, Archie attends a nursery school that offers more than the traditional kinds of teachings — although those are still represented, of course.

British publication The Mirror spoke with a parent of one of the other children who attends the nursery. Unsurprisingly, little Archie seems to garner a lot less attention than he would get if he were to attend an English nursery school. The parent said:

"Harry often drops Archie off and picks him up, and seems like a good dad. All the parents have been laid back in welcoming Harry and Meghan, without making a fuss. And to the other kids, Archie is just one of them. They don't know his parents are royalty, and probably wouldn't care — unless Meghan was a Disney princess."

Harry has taken to fatherhood incredibly well, and he doesn’t just talk about mental health, he practices self-care every chance he gets. The father acknowledges that as busy parents, sometimes caring for your own needs gets lost along the way. "The self-care is the first thing that drops away. I'm happy to admit that — as a husband, as a dad," he said.

Although they aren't in the public eye as much as they once were, the Sussexes do share moments from their life from time to time, including official interviews and projects they've worked on. In 2021, Harry released a TV show with Winfrey titled, “The Me You Can’t See." He later went on to have a book deal of his own, with his first official memoir coming out sometime in fall 2022. Through it all, the Duke of Sussex has been dedicated to breaking stigmas surrounding mental health and providing resources to help as many people as possible.

But while Harry and Meghan were busy living their life in California, the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II brought their strained relationship with the royal family back into question. Alongside mourning the late queen — who reigned for an unprecedented 70 years — the royal family experienced several new changes in the line of succession to the throne and new titles for several royal family members. 

Now that Charles is monarch, it's unclear how secure Harry and Meghan's roles in the royal family will be. A royal commentator revealed, in the wake of Philip's death in 2021, that Charles may have had plans to cut the Sussexes out of the royal family when he became king, despite Elizabeth's wishes.

In contrast to her son, the late Queen Elizabeth seemed to want to keep the family together, despite the price it may cost. "I think the outer edge, which the Queen has wanted to keep together for a very long time for sentimental reasons, which at her age she didn't really particularly want change which I think is understandable,” Levin explained, back in 2021.

Charles and the queen spent time together following Philip's death, in the days ahead of the State Opening of Parliament on May 11, 2021. The event formally marks the beginning of a session of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and typically includes a speech from the throne, which was given by the queen. She opened every session of Parliament since she became the queen, except in 1959 and 1963 when she was pregnant. Charles accompanied the queen during the event in 2021, which ended up being her last, as ill health meant she wasn't able to be there for the 2022 opening of parliament, which was opened by Charles and his son, William, Prince of Wales, as they filled in for the queen.

Talking about the queen’s future role back in 2021, Levin said: "I think although she wants to do her duties she will step back, even more, it'll be quite hard to come back after the pandemic and all the isolation." Levin concluded her thoughts about the future of the queen and her relationship with Charles: "In fact, she will be grateful for him to be taking over in making, I imagine, quite big decisions on behalf of the royal family."

Despite making it to her momentous Platinum Jubilee celebration, the queen passed away on Sept. 8, 2022. Now that Charles is king, he will have free reign to go forward with his plans of cutting out Harry and Meghan if he so wishes. 

Charles and Harry have had their fair share of ups and downs and perhaps now that Charles is king, the father and son will be forced to consider their relationship more closely. Although Charles was hurt by his son's candid interview with Winfrey, it seems that Harry had taken steps toward mending their relationship when he sent his father personal letters. Since the public didn't hear further about their standing as father and son, we don't truly know what happened behind closed doors, but back then, it was clear that Harry and his father had a long way to go in rebuilding their relationship for the future of the royal family. 

However, while Charles may seem to have a cool demeanor when it comes to his sons, the king has shown himself to have warm relationships with others, including his late mother and his grandchildren. 

The late queen and Charles were pictured many times on official engagements sharing a laugh together. Although Elizabeth never stood down from her position as monarch, she relied on Charles as heir apparent to carry out important work as a senior royal. From their many interactions, it's clear that there was a lot of love between the two, including when Charles endearingly referred to the late queen as "mummy" during his speech at her Platinum Jubilee celebration.

Similarly, Charles has shown himself to be a sweet grandfather to William's children over the years. This could suggest that it's only a matter of time before he and Harry finally heal their wounds.

In any case, only time will tell whether Charles and Harry's historically rocky relationship could have a hand in the king's final decision as to whether to include his son and daughter-in-law in his monarchy plans. 

What do you think about King Charles and his decision to potentially cut out the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your friends and family.