“I don’t see how they can come back from this,” royal author Penny Junor tells New Idea. “They have lobbed a grenade into everything he once held dear and blown a hole in the institution that his grandmother has devoted her life to protecting.
“And that institution is both his father’s and his brother’s future.
“I fear the damage may be too great for those relationships to be repaired.
I imagine Charles and William will be both sad and angry. No family wants to see its dirty linen washed in public.”
Junor believes that while the royal family has weathered many storms over the decades, this one will prove to be “extremely damaging”.
“My guess is it will survive,” the expert continues.
“But I don’t think the accusations should all be taken at face value.”
So should Harry and Meghan be stripped of their royal titles once and for all?
“Tricky decision … the allegations will need to be unpicked and a goal defined,” royal biographer Andrew Morton tells New Idea, adding the grand unveiling of Diana’s statue later this year will be the “litmus test”.
The statue at Kensington Palace is set to be revealed to the public in July, on what would have been Princess Diana’s 60th birthday. It was expected that Wills, Kate, Harry and Meghan would all attend the ceremony.
Meanwhile, royal expert Phil Dampier is convinced Meghan won’t be returning to the UK anytime soon.
Instead, it’s likely she’ll remain in the US and focus on motherhood, as well as her and Harry’s Archewell foundation, and their projects with Netflix and Spotify.
Prince William finally revealed his feelings about Harry and Meghan’s interview on Friday last week.
During a Royal commitment to School 21 in Stratford, London, for a re-opening and to discuss the first Mentally Healthy Schools resource hub, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton were approached by a paparazzo, who asked them the questions the world has been dying to know.
The paparazzo asked William, “Sir, have you spoken to your brother since the interview?”
After a blink and you will miss it, scoff the Duke replied, “No, I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I will do.”
A big accusation made by Meghan and Harry was about racism they experienced by the royal family, and the pap took their opportunity to ask the risky question.
“Can you just let me know, is the royal family a racist family, sir?” they asked.
“We are very much not a racist family,” William stated.
The harrowing racism claims came up when Meghan revealed that a family member had made an inappropriate comment about her then-unborn son, Archie.
“Concerns and conversations about how dark (her son Archie’s) skin might be when he was born,” Meghan told Oprah, who hosted the interview.
The Queen has also responded to the accusations in an official statement, writing, “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning” while also claiming that “some recollections may vary.”