What to expect for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the aftermath of the Queen’s funeral

They are the most-talked-about royals of them all, their every move and utterance scrutinised. And defying their haters, they plan to say a lot more in future.

For all the speculative column inches being banged out around the world right now about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s future, there are only a few predictions we can make with absolute surety.

One: Piers Morgan will not stop criticising them. Especially her. It’s a thing now.

Two: The gossip mags will keep coming for them. Expect a constant supply of breathless and (and probably baseless) headlines that they’re breaking up, or moving back to Blighty, or having another baby.

Three: There will in fact be no more babies. “Two, maximum!” Harry joked to Dr Jane Goodall when the renowned conservationist asked him that very question for Vogue back in 2019.

But the big question – whether Harry’s estrangement from the royal family will be lessened, or deepened, as a result of the Queen’s death – nobody on the outside can really answer.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long Walk at Windsor Castle. Picture: Getty Images.

Speaking to the entertainment news program Extra this week, Harry and Meghan’s bestie Oprah Winfrey said she hoped the tragedy would bring the tribes of the royal family together.

“(When) all families come together for a common ceremony; the ritual of, you know, burying your dead, there’s an opportunity for peacemaking,” she said.

But the signs from the first week of mourning don’t look too promising.

The Cambridges and the Sussexes did put on a united front when meeting members of the public outside the palace gates at Windsor last Saturday, the first time the Fractious Four had been seen together since 2020, but there were reports of tension behind the scenes, with Meghan’s hair and wardrobe delaying the event by an hour.

Meghan also stayed behind in London while Harry rushed to see his grandmother on the night she died, and rode in a different car to the Duchess of Cambridge to see the Queen’s casket lying in state at Westminster: sure signs that not all is harmonious in the house of Windsor.

Piers Morgan was also quick to note King Charles was a little cool towards the couple during his first televised address to the nation.

While he said “I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan, as they continue to build their lives overseas,” Morgan pointed out Charles had refrained from using titles for the couple, and suggested the new King might even take the honours away.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry pictured at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2015. Picture: Getty Images

Prince Harry served up a bit of coolness of his own a few days later, saying in his statement on the Queen’s death: “We now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III.”

It was the blandest of remarks in a statement otherwise saturated with emotion.

It remains to be seen whether the Queen’s passing prompts a public reappraisal of Harry and Meghan.

Certainly Harry’s stocks have fallen a long way from the days when he was regarded as the second most beloved royal, just below the Queen herself.

In the most recent YouGov poll tracking royal popularity, Harry sat at number 11, below Prince Edward of all people, and just above the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Harry’s stocks might have slipped, but Meghan’s appear to be in terminal decline.

Haters relished the vision of a member of the public appearing to snub the Duchess during the Windsor 'meet and greet'; others promoted a wild theory that Meghan wore a wire to the event in order to grab audio for an upcoming Netflix special – which is probably absolute tosh, but the fact people believe it says a lot about the kind of person they perceive Meghan to be.

With books, podcasts and Netflix specials in the works, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have no plans to fade into the background. Picture: Getty Images

There do appear to be signs of a recent hardening of attitudes toward Meghan.

Feminist commentator Julia Baird recently called out the unseemly pile-on against the Duchess of Sussex, but noted she too felt she had “misjudged and over-estimated” the former actress.

Channel 9’s morning show host Allison Langdon offered a similar observation recently.

“All I know is that I had a lot of mates who liked Meghan for a long time, and none of them do now,” she said.

A recent poll in the Daily Express found 76 per cent of Brits do not trust the Duchess of Sussex.

But regardless of how popular or unpopular she is, Meghan still fascinates a lot of people; her Archetypes podcast immediately shot to the top of the charts in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the US, where it knocked off Joe Rogan.

And there’s a lot more to come from the Sussexes. While Meghan’s acting career appears to have stalled completely (that cringe-making footage of Harry pitching her skills as a voiceover artist to Disney CEO Bob Iger in early 2020 probably did more harm than good), there are four books and more Netflix specials in the pipeline from the royal couple.

Prince Harry riding an abandoned motorcycle past his Spartan armoured vehicle, in the desert in Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan, February 2008. Picture: AFP

Harry’s memoir was originally scheduled for release before thanksgiving on November 24, but is likely to be delayed now, giving him the opportunity to pen a chapter or two about his Gran, and perhaps, also, revise any passages he might come to regret.

“I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” Harry promised in advance promotional material for the memoir, part of a four-book deal the Sussexes signed with Penguin Random House.

Meghan is also slated to produce a health and wellness title – one can almost hear the critics sharpening their claws in advance of that one – while the subject mater of the remaining two books is yet to be disclosed.

The couple’s charity work and Harry’s role with the Invictus Games – the next one is in Dusseldorf next September – will also keep them very much in the public eye.

In the immediate aftermath of the Queen’s funeral, Harry and Meghan will presumably retreat to Montecito, where they will be reunited with three year old Archie and one-year-old Lilibet. But those ties to London may prove hard to sever – the next 12 months will bring Charles’s coronation, and one can imaging Prince William, now the immediate heir to the throne, needing to reach out to his brother from time to time.

Despite their best efforts to go Hollywood, ‘The Firm’ may yet retain a firm grip on Harry and Meghan.