Prince Harry was once one of the most popular members of the British royal family, but he has become increasingly distant from the British public and his own family as he celebrates his 40th birthday this weekend.
The younger son of King Charles III, who is now living in California with his American television actress wife Meghan and their two young children, will arrive at the historic site on Sunday.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, five-year-old Prince Archie and three-year-old Princess Lilibet, live in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, near Santa Barbara on the US west coast.
But Harry’s isn’t just isolated by geography.
“He has been completely isolated. I don’t think he will come back, even in a small role… there is no sign of any official role for him,” Pauline MacLaren of Royal Holloway University in London told AFP.
“They (the public) don’t trust him,” royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said.
Strained relations with the royals
Since Harry and the couple quit royal life and moved to North America in early 2020, their relationship with the royal family has deteriorated further.
First there was an explosive television interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which the couple claimed senior royals were speculating about the colour of their unborn son’s skin.
Meghan is of mixed heritage.
When asked about any hints of racism, Harry’s brother William, heir to the throne, said the royal family was “absolutely not a racist family.”
The brothers’ grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, also politely dodged questions about Harry and Meghan’s developments.
He said in a statement that “memories may vary”, and promised to investigate the matter.
A potentially decisive rupture came early last year with the publication of Harry’s candid and unflinching autobiography, “Spare.”
The book, which is due to be published in paperback in October, has been seen as a sweeping attack against the centuries-old institution of the royal family, which still plays a central role in British life.
It includes long passages on Harry’s strained relationship with his “beloved brother”, William, 42, whom he describes as his “arch enemy”, and his father.
Experts told AFP they did not see any reconciliation in the near future.
“If reconciliation had ever been possible, their differences with other members of the royal family would probably have been resolved by now,” said Mark Garnett of Lancaster University in northwest England.
“The idea of a divided royal family only attracts unwanted media attention.”
In February Harry told US TV network ABC he was “confident” the family could be reunited following his father’s cancer diagnosis, days after briefly meeting the king.
However, during the prince’s other visit to London in May, father and son attended separate events nearby but did not meet.
Harry, who has strongly criticised media intrusion, also declined an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace during his visit and instead stayed at a London hotel.
“They have no idea of the extent of the damage they have caused,” McLaren said.
‘Locked horns’
Relations between William and Harry, who once had a close bond following the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, have remained publicly frosty.
They were seen together at the late Queen’s funeral in September 2022 but have conspicuously kept their distance at subsequent events, including her father’s coronation in May last year.
Royal author Robert Jobson compared the couple, who are reportedly not on speaking terms, to deer “who have locked horns.”
“I cannot expect any reconciliation in the near future,” he told reporters in London this week.
While Harry and Meghan have more supporters in the United States, the British public has also clearly taken sides in the family feud.
Harry and Meghan rank near the bottom of royal popularity polls, along with their disgraced uncle Prince Andrew, whose ties to the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have made him persona non grata.
In contrast, William and his wife Catherine, who is recovering from cancer, are extremely popular.
Meanwhile, Harry, a former British Army captain, is busy with a number of projects, chief among them the preparation and promotion of the Invictus Games, which he founded for disabled military veterans.
He and Meghan also recently completed a short tour of Colombia and Nigeria to promote mental health, equality, and inclusion.
McLaren, who has written about the royals and consumer culture, said that if royal tours are “a tool for (British) diplomacy”, the Sussexes’ tours are a way to refine their “branding”.
He said the visits are a way to “stay relevant.” He added that only “the (royal) titles make them different from other celebrities.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)