The royal family is preparing to welcome Prince Harry and Meghan Markle back to the UK for the pair's last official royal event on March 9, when the family observes Commonwealth Day. The holiday means a lot to the family, particularly to Queen Elizabeth.
Commonwealth Day is an annual celebration of the Commonwealth nations. Queen Elizabeth always delivers an address, and nearly 1 billion people across the nations observe the day.
Of course, this year's observation will be of particular interest to just about everyone who has been following the fall-out since Prince Harry and Meghan left the royal family. Tensions are sure to be high, especially since it's been reported that Prince Harry and Prince William have spoken to one another only a few times in the intervening weeks.
Sources have said that Queen Elizabeth is hoping that the family can pull it together and put on a "united front" when Harry and Meghan join them.
A royal insider told Us Weekly that the "Queen’s hoping everyone will put on a united front when Harry returns to London in March — even though there’s still tension behind closed doors. It’ll be interesting to watch their body language and see how they are together."
This is such a great point: Many will be watching nearly every move the family makes as they make their public appearances.
For his part, Prince Harry is reportedly loving living in Canada. The source shares that "Harry’s much happier in Canada and feels a lot more relaxed. So far he doesn’t regret the move." They also added that Meghan is equally thrilled to not be as enmeshed in the royal family now. "She doesn’t come from millions. She’s worked hard to get to where she is today."
For their part, the other members of Prince Harry's family have stayed pretty quiet about the royal split. The Queen issued a heartfelt statement following the pair's surprise January announcement, but Princes Charles and William have not followed suit. It's likely that no one really expected them to in the first place, but it's still a little jarring that such a major move has taken place and they haven't told anyone publicly what they think.
This could be down to a difference in temperament. When it comes to the brothers, "Harry’s more sensitive and emotional than William — he takes everything so personally. He can be rather impulsive at times. [William] doesn’t let things let things get to him, like Harry does. That’s not to say William has a heart of steel — he’s actually an incredibly loving and kind man, he just has a different way of dealing with emotions and is more level-headed than his brother."
Prince William tends to turn to the same person to confide in — his wife, Kate Middleton. Prince Harry also reportedly talks to Meghan about "everything."
"She knows everything about her husband and is constantly advising him," according to a source. "He first opened up to Meghan about the trauma he went through dealing with his mom’s death shortly after they met — it was during their trip to Africa."
In other royal news, Princess Anne's children are supporting one another as Peter navigates his upcoming divorce from his wife, Autumn. Sources have said that his sister, Zara, is providing him with a lot of emotional support and is also acting as a mediator between the two. Zara is said to have played a huge part in convincing Autumn to stay in the UK instead of returning to her native Canada.
In fact, some are saying that Zara should handle Harry and Meghan now. A royal insider told the Daily Mail that "Zara prevented Autumn from moving back to Canada to be closer to her family. If she had been involved in that Sandringham summit about Harry and Meghan, perhaps the outcome would have been different too. The feeling is that the Queen would be wise to make use of Zara as Harry adores her."
Though Prince William and Prince Harry both absolutely love Zara, it doesn't feel likely that she could have swayed the choice. Autumn has lived in the UK for decades, but Meghan had only been there for a couple of years when she and Harry decided to depart. Harry's choice was also influenced by the intensely negative press attention Meghan has been subjected to and the outright hostile environment she was encountering every day. While Autumn and Peter are struggling, they're not contending with the same situation.
In fact, another insider told Us Weekly that "Harry’s been unhappy in the royal family for years." And Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, echoed that sentiment recently when he said, "I doubt he’ll miss being a royal. Yes, he was born a prince, but his long-term ambition is to be known as a humanitarian, like his mother."
Meanwhile, it appears that baby Archie is also pretty happy with his current situation. Of course, he's only 9 months old and probably just wants to spend most of his time with his mom and dad. Though it's fair to believe that if his parents are thrilled and comfortable, he probably is, too.
New changes are definitely on the horizon for the family, as Meghan is interested in pursuing work opportunities.
As another source recently explained, "Meghan loves the idea of being the breadwinner. She has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harry’s been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time." It could be that with a little time, the sky is truly the limit for these two.
