Does HARRY need to COME BACK?

As talk of a return intensifies, we ask two royal experts their opinions

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Friends of Prince Harry say he misses his ‘old life’ back in the UK, and wants to spend more time here. The Duke of Sussex maintains that he’s ‘very much enjoying’ his time in the USA, adding that ‘it’s the life my mum wanted for me’. So after all the bad blood that has been spilled between the Sussexes and the Royal Family, could Harry ever return? Or would he be a vital re-addition to a monarchy that has just had one of its most challenging years ever? Does the Royal Family actually need Harry?

Royal biographer Hugo Vickers and royal editor Emily Andrews debate the pros and cons.

NO
HUGO VICKERS

They don't need him. Personally, I don't think it would be at all helpful to the present King to have Prince Harry back in the fold doing royal duties. To be quite honest, I think it would be counterproductive.

The central problem is that Harry attracts so much attention, and given the fallout with his family, all the concentration and analysis would be on those interpersonal relations rather than on the actual work he was doing.

"I don't think he particularly wants to come back"

The Royal Family, as we know, are working for the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and for us, as opposed to themselves. Harry and Meghan Markle are the opposite. And that's the issue. The tenet of the Royal Family is about others. It's about service, not self. And it would be difficult, even if Harry wanted it to be all about others and not himself, because the whole media agenda would be focused on how he and his brother react to each other.