FEARS FOR HARRY
WHY KATE IS TAKING CHARGE IN THE BID TO BRING HER BROTHER-IN-LAW HOME
It’s been an undeniably rough start to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new life. Since they officially stepped down from their royal duties and relocated to Vancouver Island and then Los Angeles, the COVID-19 pandemic has more than disrupted what should have been a happy and exciting time for the young couple and their son Archie. In particular, Harry, 35, has continued to struggle as the reality of being separated from his family begins to sink in.
The first setback was when his father, Prince Charles, 71, tested positive for coronavirus in late March. While the Prince of Wales has thankfully now recovered, Harry is still feeling powerless and even more disconnected from his loved ones than ever before.
Royals expert Phil Dampier tells New Idea Harry would be “going through a real wringer of emotions at the moment”.
“I’m sure he’s feeling helpless and isolated and is very upset about it all. Harry and Meghan seem impotent and irrelevant in the coronavirus crisis, and Harry must be wondering, ‘What have I done?’.” says Phil.
“Not only is he coping with moving to LA away from his family and friends, but the crisis is making it very difficult to make new ones, so he must be in a strange place.”
In shocking new photos of Harry and Meghan delivering food parcels to LA residents who are unable to shop or cook for themselves, Harry’s decline is glaringly obvious. He has lost weight, looks tired and gaunt, and his usually happy demeanour has been replaced with a serious expression.
“No amount of stunts like delivering food parcels in LA with face masks on will bring back the kudos he once had as a full-time royal,” Phil says. “Harry looks very thin, and whereas I would have put that down to giving up beer and getting fit, he now looks a bit cadaverous. It makes you wonder if he is quite stressed and is worrying himself thin.”
Relations between Harry and his older brother, Prince William, as well as his sister-in-law, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, have been unquestionably tense since Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down from the royal family.
The rift between the once-close families was obvious at their last royal engagement together on March 9 for the Commonwealth Day service held in London.
“It was heartbreaking to see them on their last couple of jobs together,” Phil says. “Notably in Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day service, when they were like complete strangers when before there was such warmth between them.”
On April 15, it was announced that over Easter, Harry had hosted a video chat over Zoom with parents of vulnerable children, as part of his work with the organisation
Wellchild. While he tried to stay upbeat during the chat, his deterioration was impossible to ignore.
After seeing the alarming footage, it’s believed Kate knew she needed to step in, realising things had become much worse than she’d originally thought. Regardless of the brothers’ ongoing frostiness, Kate is determined to at least bury the hatchet between Harry and herself.
She immediately jumped on the phone to Harry to offer her support and love.
“Deep down, Kate still has a lot of love and affection for Harry and she must be worried about him at this time. She will worry that he is feeling isolated and alone. So she may well have reached out to him,” Phil confirms.
Before Meghan came onto the scene in 2016, Harry enjoyed a close relationship with both his brother and sister-in-law.
However, after Meghan’s conflicting ideas about royal life came to the forefront, the divide between that original trio began to widen.
When Harry and Meghan chose to leave the UK and step back from monarchy, it was a blow to Kate and William, who felt the pair had abandoned their family and their duties.
“One of the saddest things about ‘Megxit’ is the relationship that Harry once had with Kate,” Phil says. “They were really close and she was the sister he never had.
“Kate knows that now is the time for her to offer her brother-in-law help and love before things get even worse.”