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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, couldn’t have appeared more connected as they celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on May 19 with a series of schmaltzy social media posts.
Meghan squealed as she was filmed unwrapping a bronze penguin statue her husband had gifted her – explaining to the couple’s children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, four, that it symbolised them being “together for life”.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, commentators are speculating that the anniversary posts served another purpose too. Royal expert Tom Sykes, of The Royalist substack, thinks that they served as a “funnel” towards Meghan’s As Ever Instagram page where she was spruiking a $AU90 candle inspired by her wedding date.
“The commercialisation now is totally desperate and I think it makes you wonder what the heck is going on with their finances,” Sykes mused in a recent video.
But behind the scenes, sources tell Woman’s Day, that Prince Harry feels “he’s getting very close” to getting his father King Charles to agree to a deal that would see he and Meghan becoming working royals on a part time basis.
“He genuinely believes there’s a role for them both, and says the timing to have that conversation is now, while Charles is still able to make those calls,” the source explains.
But there’s one issue that is apparently causing issues over in Montecito.
“The problem is, Harry can’t keep doing this solo, flying back and forth and trying to rebuild bridges on his own, because for it to really work it needs to feel like a united front,” the source says, explaining that – just like his penguin gift, Harry’s vision is to have his wife by his side for a part-time royal role.
“That’s what the plan was when they first met and Harry is ready to revisit that in a big way,” the insider goes on. “Yes, they have taken an American detour but he doesn’t see why that needs to stand in their way.”
However, the source claims that Meghan is “not at all of the same mind” – having instead a “new blueprint” for her life that she is committed to.
“She’s not ready to scrap it all and go back to be the face of the royal family, not a chance,” the insider claims.
“So they’re very much at odds in this, and neither seems ready to budge.”
