Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to “air their dirty laundry in public” has damaged the royal family’s brand, in accordance with a royal expert.
Royal creator and historian Ed Owens has warned that because the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sensationally shut the door on royal life in 2020, they’ve managed to break most of their personal relationships with members of the Firm.
What’s more, Owens believes the couple’s antics have dented the royals’ image of being the “better of British family life.”
“The story is a rather tragic one because it has damaged this concept of a family monarchy. This concept that it is a united group who embody, in case you like, the very best of British family life,” he said on the Mirror’s “Pod Save The King” podcast.
“Originally King Charles III’s reign was going to be based around him being supported by his two trusty lieutenants — William and Harry.”
“But when that went so disastrously improper in early 2020 due to Harry and Meghan’s decision to go away Britain, it really put paid to that vision of the family monarchy,” he added.
Owens, who wrote “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?” continued, “After which in fact we’ve had the Sussexes airing their dirty laundry in public for the very best a part of three years — and again it has done much damage to that narrative of pleased family life.”
“So why not, as I suggest in my book, put off this family narrative once and for all? We don’t have to have this big royal family presenting themselves as moral exemplars,” he went on.
“King Charles is uniquely placed because he knows first-hand that the perfect of the family rarely matches the truth of the family monarchy.”
Harry and Meghan’s move sparked several high-publicity projects equivalent to their six-part Netflix documentary, their bombshell sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, and Harry’s protocol-shattering memoir, “Spare.”
In “Spare,” which has turn out to be the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time since its release on Jan. 10, Harry left no stone unturned as he dished on all of the family drama inside the Firm.
Among the many myriad of eyebrow-raising revelations, the memoir details Harry’s contentious relationships along with his father, King Charles, and brother, Prince William, and the issues attributable to his marriage to Markle that caused him to quit the royal family in 2020.
They’ve only returned to the UK a couple of times since.