Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are an opportunity for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to make their big public comeback in the UK, but also to renew strained ties with the royal family, according to an expert from the royalty.
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The sovereign’s 70-year reign will see Harry and Meghan’s first appearance together alongside senior royals since moving to California in 2020 and will be watched closely.
“I think their decision to leave has left them feeling like they’ve turned their back not just on the country, but on the Queen, on the institution, and I don’t think they’ll be able to shake that off.” estimated during a conference at the foreign press association in London Omid Scobie, author of “Finding Freedom”, a book which recounts this shattering departure.
“As we see in the UK press they are absolutely hated and so I think anything they do will be kind of amplified in a very negative way,” he added.
The United Kingdom celebrates the Platinum Jubilee from June 2 to 5 with parades, religious services and many popular gatherings.
The participation of the Queen, who has limited her public engagements due to mobility issues in recent months, remains uncertain. The 96-year-old sovereign traveled to her Scottish residence in Balmoral on Thursday to rest before the festivities.
According to Omid Scobie, Harry will mainly be present at the most family events, a way for him to renew the loose ties with his father Charles and his brother William. “Harry has been in contact with his father, there have been first steps (…) They have done everything they can to lay the foundations, but it will be difficult”.
With William, “there is always very little communication,” he said.
Deprived of an appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, reserved for active members of the royal family for the military parade on June 2, Harry and Meghan could make a “surprise appearance” there with other members of the royal family on June 5 , the day of the great festive parade in London.
They will also attend the Thanksgiving Mass to be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on June 3, the royal chronicler predicts.
They will present their daughter Lilibet for the first time to her great-grandmother Elizabeth II, who inspired this first name and celebrates her first birthday during the jubilee, on June 4.
