The Effects of Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s Exit Are Now Being Felt by the Royal Family

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exited the royal family, the palace thought it would be easy to carry on without the telegenic couple. For a time, it worked because there was a pandemic, and the royal appearances were limited by the nature of a global crisis. In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing in 2022, it’s become clear that the Sussexes’ absence left a glaring hole in the senior royals’ roster.

With King Charles III and Kate Middleton both on a royal hiatus due to their medical situations, Queen Camilla on vacation, and Prince William focusing on his three children, it’s up to a select few to carry on — and it’s a huge burden to bear. “This is a slimmed-down monarchy in the ways the King could never have anticipated. This puts into much sharper focus what a terrible mistake it was for Harry to leave,” royal author Sally Bedell Smith explained to People.

Prince Harry detailed their exit in the Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, and revealed that at the now-infamous Sandringham Summit the decision was basically made for them. While the couple preferred a part-time option, it was obvious that they would either have to be “all-in” or “all-out.” Harry noted, “It became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate,” he said in the series. “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in.”

The royal family was probably shocked that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted to permanently leave their positions, but that gives you a hint at how bad things were for the couple behind palace walls. It’s what Bedell Smith believes now to be a missed opportunity for the royal family. “If he and Meghan had stayed in Britain and stuck with their jobs, they could be very vital players right now,” she said. The royal biographer isn’t the only one who agrees with this assessment.

“They desperately need [Prince Harry], and nobody could have foreseen the set of circumstances that would expose that so dramatically,” Catherine Mayer, the author of Charles: The Heart of a King, also told People. There are now major cracks in the royal family foundation, and this weakness gives anti-monarchists to further their case even more. King Charles has had a rough go in his first year on the throne, and now, the only thing people are thinking about is what could have been if the royal family had reached a compromise with Harry and Meghan to keep them in the palace fold.