Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to “air their dirty laundry in public” has damaged the royal family’s brand, according to a royal expert.
Royal author and historian Ed Owens has warned that since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sensationally shut the door on royal life in 2020, they’ve managed to damage most of their personal relationships with members of the Firm.
What’s more, Owens believes the couple’s antics have dented the royals’ image of being the “best of British family life.”
“The story is a slightly tragic one as it has damaged this idea of a family monarchy. This idea that this is a united group who embody, if you like, the best of British family life,” he said on the Mirror’s “Pod Save The King” podcast.
“Originally King Charles III’s reign was going to be based around him being supported by his two trusty lieutenants — William and Harry.”
“But when that went so disastrously wrong in early 2020 because of Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave Britain, it really put paid to that vision of the family monarchy,” he added.
Owens, who wrote “After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?” continued, “And then of course we’ve had the Sussexes airing their dirty laundry in public for the best part of three years — and again it has done much damage to that narrative of happy family life.”
“So why not, as I suggest in my book, do away with this family narrative once and for all? We don’t need to have this big royal family presenting themselves as moral exemplars,” he went on.
“King Charles is uniquely placed because he knows first-hand that the ideal of the family rarely matches the reality of the family monarchy.”
Harry and Meghan’s move sparked several high-publicity projects such as their six-part Netflix documentary, their bombshell sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, and Harry’s protocol-shattering memoir, “Spare.”
In “Spare,” which has become the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time since its release on Jan. 10, Harry left no stone unturned as he dished on all the family drama within the Firm.
Among the myriad of eyebrow-raising revelations, the memoir details Harry’s contentious relationships with his father, King Charles, and brother, Prince William, and the problems caused by his marriage to Markle that caused him to quit the royal family in 2020.
They have only returned to the UK a few times since.
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