How 2023 may ignite tensions between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and royal family
The new year will bring more shock claims from Prince Harry and a potential showdown with the King - royal experts reveal what could be next.
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The new year will bring more attacks on the royal family by the Sussexes and a potential showdown between warring brothers Prince Harry and Prince William at their father’s coronation, royal experts say.
From the death of the Queen to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s revenge docuseries, 2022 has ended up as another annus horribilis for the scandal-plagued House of Windsor and 2023 could be just as bad.
The Sussexes’ explosive Netflix TV series, Harry and Meghan, was a “declaration of war” and the fallout will continue with the release of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare on January 10, says British royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
Days before the tell-all book’s release, senior royals will be bracing themselves yet again when the Duke of Sussex sits down with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper for an interview on America’s 60 Minutes.
Speaking from London, Mr Fitzwillliams said Spare’s potential revelations would be “unpleasant” for the royal family. The “unpredictable” and entitled” Sussexes would likely continue their targeted attacks on the royal family in 2023 as they “earn their keep”, he said.
The royal expert said the book’s title — which alludes to Prince Harry being the “spare” in case anything happened to older brother and heir Prince William — “speaks volumes” and was indicative of how the Sussexes have positioned themselves as “victims”.
“You’re looking at a couple who are absolutely obsessed with control,” Mr Fitzwilliams said.
“That control simply means keeping putting their own part of the story, whatever it is, whether it’s the Sandringham summit or whether it’s how jealous the royal family were of them — it’s only their side of the story that gets out.
“The royals can’t, for obvious reasons, go point by point in rebuttal. As a result, the Sussexes are left unchallenged.”
It is not yet clear if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will attend the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 next year, but one Australian royal expert believes the King’s second son will be there despite the royal rifts.
“I tend to think that Harry will attend his father’s coronation,” Associate Professor of English at Flinders University Giselle Bastin said.
“A coronation is a massive affair and, in terms of historical significance, goes beyond any kind of family dispute. Meghan may well choose to stay away, however.
“I think Harry’s already begun his journey as a royal outcast in the sense that he will no longer participate in formal royal occasions as a working royal.
“Yet another book about his grievances will add to the royal family’s sense of disappointment, but won’t come as a terrible shock.
“They would be clearly aware by now that Harry has contractual obligations to tell ‘his truth’ as often as possible.
“Having said that, I would still expect to see him at Charles’s coronation because, despite all else, he is a prince du sang (a Prince of the Blood).
“A cynic might suggest that Harry will have to attend the coronation, if only to give Netflix some more footage.”
Mr Fitzwilliams said the May 6 coronation would be “magnificent” although less lavish than the late Queen’s 1953 ceremony as the royals will be reading the room due to the global economic crisis.
Professor Bastin agreed that King Charles’ coronation would reflect changed times.
“There will be pomp and ceremony, but perhaps less of it than we saw at Elizabeth II’s coronation.
“I think there will be less aristocratic ermine in evidence and a far wider collection of faces from across Britain and the Commonwealth. There will also be more representatives from the various faiths practised across the UK than we saw in 1953.
“King Charles, however, will still be anointed as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and that will form a central part of the ceremony.
Mr Fitzwilliams said aside from the drama caused by the Sussexes, the royals would strive to be “symbols of unity” in 2023.
The next year would being more foreign visits and a broadening of their agenda in the UK, he said.
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Originally published as How 2023 may ignite tensions between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and royal family
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