Prince Harry's latest interview discussing royal reconciliation highlights a major contradiction in the Sussex strategy—supporting the couple's projects inevitably generates stories that risk undermining royal healing.
The Duke of Sussex did a sit-down with GQ Magazine to promote a discussion on grief that he released through MasterClass, a paid-for online education platform. Newsweek understands Harry was paid by MasterClass.
The magazine's senior special projects editor Zach Baron asked the prince whether he grieves for his relationship with his family. Harry said reconciliation was the most important thing before adding: "Some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out."
However, the comment sparked a backlash in Britain as some news organizations interpreted his words as a veiled swipe at Prince William, which Harry's spokesperson denied to Newsweek.
The saga highlights the longstanding struggle the Sussexes have had with balancing the need to promote their projects with the restraint required to pursue royal peace.
"If you want to build trust in the family the last thing you do is go on GQ and talk about the family in a way that is going to injure trust," Eric Schiffer, the chair of Reputation Management Consultants, told Newsweek.
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Why It Matters
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have returned to Britain after six years spent pursuing careers as TV producers in California. In the U.K., they have been undertaking charity visits of the kind they did when they were working royals, sparking a debate about whether they might want their old palace jobs back.
However, Harry is not on speaking terms with his brother Prince William, who is the direct heir to the throne and is understood to be opposed to any prospect of a Sussex return.
Prince Harry's GQ Interview
Harry's GQ interview was mostly about grief, and he would have been well prepared for the questions about losing his mother, Princess Diana. However, Baron pivoted to the headline-grabbing subject of the royal rift through a deft slight of hand, asking the prince about the grief of losing the relationship with William and Charles.
The prince could have declined to answer but, for the most part, tends to respond to whatever questions come his way in interviews such as this one.
“Some people don't want it to work out," he said. "I want it to work out. With everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile—that's the key point.”
"Just when you think that Harry's gotten the memo, he goes and creates another self-inflicted wound," Schiffer said. "If you want to build trust with family who don't trust you and think you're unworthy of trust, you certainly don't broadcast it in a GQ article that says look at me and tries to work on his image.
"Make a selection. Do you want a relationship with your father and your brother or do you want to try to stop the bleed out of reputational challenges? And he can't have both. And if he's going to focus on his reputation then he has to keep his mouth shut with his family. Don't talk about it, don't comment."
The Impact on Royal Relations
British newspapers including the Daily Mail were quick to interpret Harry's reference to those who do not want it to "work out," reporting that the duke "appeared to take a swipe at Prince William."
That was strongly denied by a Sussex spokesperson who told Newsweek: "It was absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family. The comment was made in a general context and was not directed at his family in any way."
The Daily Mirror then reported on the cover of its Thursday edition that William had "snubbed the idea of a reunion," with its headline reading: "Ruled out."
Royal author Robert Jobson, who runs a YouTube channel and Substack blog, told Newsweek he felt William would rise above the drama in a week focused on a state visit by Oman and the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan coal-spill disaster, which featured in Season 3 of Netflix show The Crown. The tragedy caused the deaths of 116 children and 28 adults in 1966.
"I don't think this will worry William at all," Jobson said. "You see him stepping up, doing more and more official business. It was interesting to see him with the king at Aberfan for the 60th anniversary. He's got over the idea of reconciliation. He's just getting on with it and is not interested in doing anything else. I don't think he has to justify his existence. I think his view is just to rise above it."
The Pressure to Earn Money
For Harry though, the need to continue earning money creates pressure to pursue projects such as the grief masterclass just as it did for the Sussexes' Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan and Harry's book Spare, both of which caused huge damage to royal relations, in December 2022 and January 2023 respectively.
Back then though, the success of those two projects was Harry's primary goal. Now, he says his goals have changed, telling GQ that repair is "the most important thing."
The comment came after a period in which he had shown his ability to give back through charity visits in Nottingham last week, the kind of on-the-ground engagements the royal family specialize in.
"He was doing really good for a while he was staying really disciplined and I thought 'there's hope for him,'" Schiffer said.
"He actually has matured and he wants to build a relationship with the king and hopefully his brother but he speaks about self-awareness yet he continues to create these terrible injuries to himself and part of this is a lack of discipline and a lack of emotional maturity."
The Path to Royal Reconciliation
Schiffer said the better strategy for Harry would be to focus on charity work and giving back, while refraining from interviews about his family in the hope of building trust.
"The more he can spend time on the ground helping people the better," he said, "and really dedicating his life in that regard... it's the smartest thing."
However, that remains complicated for Harry in light of his continuing need to generate money to pay his security bills. As Harry told Oprah Winfrey during the couple's 2021 CBS sit-down interview: "The Netflix and the Spotify, they’re all . . . that was never part of the plan. We didn’t have a plan. That was suggested by somebody else by the point of where my family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford security for us."