According to reports, Prince Harry would be willing to help out temporarily with royal duties amid King Charles’ cancer treatment – but when previously quizzed about returning to the royal fold, he gave a surprise answer on why it would be unlikely
And with the bombshell Oprah interview, eye-raising Netflix series and Harry’s controversial memoir Spare all highly critical of the likes of King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales, a royal return really seemed impossible. However, the monarchy is currently missing several key players who are unable to carry out duties – not least the monarch himself, who has cancelled all foreseeable public engagements as he receives cancer treatment. And recent reports have suggested Harry is willing to step into a temporary royal role while his father undergoes treatment and has told friends he would slide into such an opportunity.
Indeed, Harry suggested the King’s illness could lead to a reconciliation in an interview with a US breakfast show. However, in a TV interview with the same show – Good Morning America – last year Harry gave a very different response when asked about any return to royal life. It came when he was being interviewed by host Michael Strahan last January while promoting his controversial memoir Spare.
When asked if he and Meghan could return as working royals, he immediately said: “No. I don’t think it is ever going to be possible.” And he gave the reason why a royal return would not work. He added: “Even if there is an agreement, or an arrangement between me and my family, there is that third party that is going to do everything they can to make sure that isn’t possible. Not stopping us going back, but making it unsurvivable.”
However, further reports have claimed that Harry will not be allowed a temporary royal role with the arrangement he accepted when stepping down as a working royal alongside Meghan in 2020, reportedly set to remain in place. A source told The Telegraph: “Those terms were quite clear, and the King’s illness hasn’t altered that.” Another told the newspaper that the view a hybrid model of being a working royal was not appropriate still “remains the case”.
It comes as Prince William has also told pals there is no chance Harry will be allowed back into the royal fold. The Prince of Wales is so angered by his brother’s continued attack on the monarchy that he will block any of his bids to return to The Firm. Sources close to William say that in the wake of King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, he would be the one to take on more duties himself if needed while it is understood he believes Harry and his wife Meghan “cannot be trusted”.