PRINCE HARRY may have shot himself in the foot with his plans to release a memoir, as “the same thing could happen to him” in the future, a royal expert told Express.co.uk.
The Duke of Sussex is reportedly set to return to the UK by the end of the year, this time surrounded by cameras. Reports suggest that he will use the visit to film some of his Netflix documentary, Heart of Invictus, which follows the journeys of those competing in the Invictus Games next year. The show is the only one Harry currently has in the pipeline, part of his and Meghan Markle’s mammoth £109million Netflix deal, but is not the only project he is working on.
In July, the Duke revealed he was writing his set of memoirs, set to be published late next year. Many were taken back by the news, keen to find out what further secrets he might divulge about his time in the Royal Family.
Commentators suggest he will follow a similar format to his previous broadcast interviews, airing his trials and tribulations growing up under the scrutiny of the public eye. However, Marlene Koenig, a royal expert, said Harry should be careful with his new projects because “life is a circle”, with present fallout potentially coming back to bite him in the future.
She told Express.co.uk: “While I think Meghan Markle and Harry need to do what they want to do, both sides need to communicate. “If this is how he’s communicating, by writing a book, he’s missing the context that he needs to talk to his father. “Because life is a circle – he could have the same thing happen to him.
“He talks about being a good father, we don’t know how his son will react years later, he could have issues.” Currently, Harry’s relations with his father and brother, Princes Charles and William, is strained. He has met with the pair a handful of times this year during brief visits to the UK. The first came in April when he attended his grandfather, Prince Philip’s funeral.
While he and Charles and William sat down and spoke for two hours, according to The Sun, just a week later, he appeared in a second interview where he blamed senior royals for his struggles.
Speaking on the podcast, ‘Armchair Expert’, Harry claimed he was a victim of “genetic pain and suffering” which had been passed to him by Charles, who had in turn had it passed to him by the Queen and Philip.
He spoke about similar themes in the first episode of his and Oprah Winfrey’s Apple TV+ series, ‘The Me You Can’t See’, in the same week. More recently, Harry travelled back to unveil a statue of his late mother, Princess Diana, with William.
Many kept a close eye on the unveiling in the event of any subtle signs of tensions between the two brothers, but they seemed at ease in each other’s presence.
Yet, the speed at which he left raised countless eyebrows: staying for a polite drink after the ceremony came to a close at 2.45pm, by 3.05pm he was driven out of Kensington Palace and shortly on a flight back to the US, according to the Daily Mail.
Ms Koenig said the hurried departure had sent a clear message to the Royal Family, and said: “At some point Harry will need, as will his father and brother, to sit down and talk.
“The fact that he could have stayed longer after the Diana statue and didn’t, again sends a message.
“Is he making an effort? Are they making an effort? We don’t know.”
Jokingly, she added: “We won’t know until William’s or Charles’ diaries are published.”
