Prince Harry’s apparent offer to share his diary dates with the Royal Family has been regarded as a key concession, a veteran royal expert has suggested.
The Duke of Sussex’s offer is believed to be a bid to “deconflict” his engagements with his father King Charles and the rest of the Firm.
Whispers of rapprochement between Harry and the Royal Family have swirled since it emerged representatives of his and King Charles had met in secret last month.
It was the reported Harry had made a further overture in what appeared to be an effort to avoid embarrassing diary clashes or pave the way for a face-to-face meeting with the King.
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Prince Harry’s latest move has been deemed an admission he is still ‘part of the Royal Family’
Such clashes were demonstrated as the Duke’s Angola trip in July dominated news coverage, at the expense of the unveiling of Queen Camilla’s 78th birthday portrait.
“Harry has shifted into a new way of thinking. The tone is now all about ‘deconflicting’ with his family,” a source said of the decision.
To that end, veteran royal expert Jennie Bond believed Prince Harry’s apparent peace offering demonstrated that he had conceded his links to the Royal Family.
“If it’s true that Harry has agreed to share his diary, then it clearly is a concession that he acknowledges he is still part of the Royal Family,” she explained to The Mirror.
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The Duke of Sussex is believed to have offered to share his diary dates with the Royal Family
Beyond even that, the former BBC royal correspondent felt that it was admission from Harry that he and his family ultimately “work best as a team”.
An insider proposed a similar line of thinking to Bond, suggesting the Duke of Sussex’s move was a “significant gesture”.
However, they cautioned that the Harry would still closely guard his independence.
“Harry still doesn’t like being controlled by the Royal machinery, and that won’t change,” they told the Daily Mail.
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Bond observed that Harry seemed to be acknowledging that he the Royal Family ‘work best as a team’
Instead, sharing diaries would most likely allow the Royal Family to have “full sight” of his plans and “plan accordingly”.
Even with the offer and rumours of peace talks, Bond did not feel the rift between Harry and his family could be healed with a “click of the fingers”.
“There has been so much hurt and so much damage; that crucial element of trust has been lost after all Harry’s accusations and revelations.
“The road to reconciliation is not going to be an easy one,” she warned.
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Representatives of King Charles and Prince Harry met in secret last month
Speculation on whether Prince Harry and the King had began to travel down this road followed the revelation that their representatives had met in secret.
Tobyn Andreae, the King’s director of communications, sat down with with Meredith Maines, head of Harry’s household in California, at the crunch talks earlier this month.
Harry and Meghan’s PR chief in the UK, Liam Maguire, was also present at the meeting.
The sit-down, which occurred on July 13, was held a a short distance from the King’s London residence of Clarence House at the Royal Over-Seas League, a private members club.