Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 'other motive for royal family peace talks'
The Sussexes' aides were snapped having a meeting with those of the King, but an expert claimed the move was motivated by more than reconciliation hopes.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's "peace talks" in London with the royals had another motive besides just reconciliation, a royal expert has claimed. The Duke of Sussex's chief communications officer, Meredith Maines, and Liam Maguire, who runs the Sussexes' PR team in the UK, were snapped on a balcony close to Clarence House in London last month having a chat with Tobyn Andreae, the King's communications secretary.
The "secret peace summit" between the two camps was seen as a "first step" towards repairing their strained relationship. Harry has been estranged from the royals since 2020 when he shocked the world after announcing that he would be stepping down as a senior working member of the Firm.
The Duke then moved to the US with his wife, Meghan Markle, and settled in their new home in Montecito, California, where they raise their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
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Now, a royal commentator suggested there may be something else in the works for the Montecito couple. Royal commentator Samara Gill claimed the Sussexes may be trying to obtain a new 'half in, half out' approach, with their latest "confusing" strategy.
She told The Sun: "Though it wasn't that long ago, so it's kind of crazy now that they're trying to share diary slots and trying to figure out how he can kind of get back in with the royal fold, because Queen Elizabeth II did say, ‘you can't have it both ways, you can't be one foot in, one foot out royals. I don't want that.’
"They need to choose. I just don't agree with this hybrid situation. They're like typical millennial royals who want to do, like, gig economy jobs in the royal family or something.
"It's a very confused strategy. And I do agree that they've got a better team who's clearly trying to fashion something out of this, but I just think it's a very confused, dilapidated thing and I don't see it going anywhere."
In June, the Sussexes sacked at least six members of their PR team, including UK-based Charlie Gipson, their Director of Communications in Europe, and US-based Kyle Boulia, their deputy press secretary.
They replaced them with PR agency Method Communications and appointed Emily Robinson as their Director of Communications.
Meredith Maines remains as their chief communications officer.
Meanwhile, Jack Royston, Newsweek's royal correspondent, said: "I think the reason behind it is fundamentally because Harry had a clear-out, and Meghan had a clear-out of their PR team on both sides of the Atlantic."
He added: "They brought new people in who have come with new energy and a real determination to move the dial in terms of public opinion, move the dial in terms of media coverage of the Sussexes, and, that comes with it, move the dial in terms of the relationship with the palace."
