Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s estrangement from the Royals could soon be at an end amid claims from King Charles III’s former royal aide that Kate Middleton will pave the way for a Christmas reconciliation.
Grant Harrold, who served as His Majesty’s butler from 2004 to 2011, has high hopes that this season will be a merry one for the cancer-stricken monarch. Amid reports that Charles has included extended family members in this year’s Christmas at Sandringham, Harrold said that Catherine, Princess of Wales, would likely also call the Sussexes to greet them a Merry Christmas.
It’s tradition for the Royals to gather in Norfolk for the holiday but this year will be different, according to Prince William, because it will be a large 45-person gathering. He shared during a visit with soldiers and their families in Bulford, Wiltshire, on Dec. 10, that “it will be noisy” as everyone will be “all in one room” but they’re “normally spread out.”
Unfortunately, the Sussexes won’t be among the guests. Regardless, Harrold believes that Kate “will reach out to Harry and Meghan and wish them a Happy Christmas” when she and Prince William retreat to their residence at Anmer Hall for a quiet celebration with their three children. He thinks that “Harry and Meghan themselves will possibly reach out” too.
The former royal butler said on behalf of Slingo: “The thing about Christmas is that it’s all about goodwill to others, letting bygones be bygones, forgetting the past, moving into the New Year. So if there’s any point in the year that the families are going to communicate or touch base, it’s going to be over Christmas — there’s something magical about Christmas that gets families back together.”
Harrold, who also served William and Kate at Charles’ home in Highgrove, then shared how he hopes the Royals would start talking to Harry and Meghan either “by text calls or FaceTime.” He said: “I’d like to think FaceTime, but that’s something we will never know. I like to think deep down that things are moving in the right direction. I have a feeling that they are. I really do think they are, but that’s just my personal feeling.”
Harry had revealed during promotional interviews for his memoir Spare that he is no longer on speaking terms with his father and brother. He said there’s been tension since he and Meghan left their royal duties in 2020. Likewise, royal “experts” claimed that the revelations in his book about his family and his privacy case against the British tabloids only added fuel to the fire.
This is the sixth year in a row that the Sussexes have not spent Christmas in Sandringham. A palace source told OK! magazine that Charles “stopped inviting them to things because they consistently turned the invitations down for years. It doesn’t have to automatically mean that he loathes them for good — it’s still his youngest son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren at the end of the day.”
It’s wishful thinking to hope for some kind of a reconciliation happening between the Royals and the Sussexes soon. Not getting an invite to spend Christmas in Sandringham is in itself already a sign that it would take more than Kate’s intervention to have Charles and William warm up to Harry and Meghan once again.