Prince Harry is looking into ways to "rehabilitate" his image in the UK ahead of a potential return to the royal fold, having grown increasingly "dissatisfied" with advice from US-based image experts, the Mail on Sunday has reported.
But "well-placed sources" told the BBC's royal correspondent Sean Coughlan that the Duke of Sussex "is not planning a permanent move" from the US, where he has lived with his wife, Meghan, and their two children since 2020.
Operation 'bring Harry in from the cold' "Harry is feeling more and more isolated in California, which is why he has been reconnecting with old friends back home", a source "close to his inner circle" told The Sun.
Part of a strategy dubbed "Operation Bring Harry In From The Cold" in the Daily Mirror may involve performing "very low-key royal duties" to rebuild public trust. "He is clearly reaching out thinking, 'I need to do something different because what I'm doing is clearly not working'," said one source.
But there is an "ongoing, labyrinthine legal wrangle with the Home Office over his security status in the UK", said the BBC's Coughlan, which "has become a thorny issue in any discussion about a return".
Healing royal relationships William and Harry were last week spotted in the same room for the first time since the May 2023 coronation of their father, at the funeral of their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, in Norfolk. Last month, People described the rift between the brothers as "very bad" if not "irreparable". Harry has, however, been trying to repair his relationship with his father for some time, said The Times, with the paper reporting in February that he was willing to return to a temporary royal role in the UK to support the family as the King was treated for cancer.
But "unless matters change very considerably, it is unlikely that either the King or Prince William will countenance any kind of formal return for Harry into the royal family," said The Spectator's Alexander Larman. It would be too humiliating after what has happened, and would risk making the institution a laughing stock. |