After more than seven years of royal upheaval, it feels as though Harry and Meghan have circled right back to where they began.

This week Meghan returned to a Hollywood film set, while Harry was in Canada, relaxed and joking with soldiers — doing exactly what he has always excelled at. Before they left the UK, the late Queen hoped they would help advance the Commonwealth. They rejected that idea at the time, yet Harry now appears to be stepping into the very role she envisioned.

And truthfully, he’s good at it. I remember Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness declining a visit from Princess Anne and specifically asking for Harry instead.

Harry’s Renewed Connection to Service

At a dinner in Toronto for the True Patriot Love Foundation, Harry spoke warmly about meeting Canadian World War Two veterans and stressed how civilians must support those who served. Remembrance weekend has always mattered enormously to him. I’m certain he has already reached out to children from Scotty’s Little Soldiers — a charity for kids who lost a military parent — ahead of their march at the Cenotaph.

He was even expected to joke about his bald spot — something that brought back memories of 2015, when he gleefully slapped a purple paint-covered hand on my head in New Zealand after I said on TV that he was going bald. Now he’s happy to laugh about it.

Are They Settling Into a Calmer Life?

After five years of chaos, perhaps the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are finding their way back to what they’re naturally good at — and possibly onto a path that could lead them closer to the royal family again.

The question I hear most on royal tours since Megxit is: “Will Prince Harry ever come back?”
People rarely ask that about Meghan. Too much has happened for many to imagine her return.

Still, the events of this week give me some hope that the turbulence coming from Montecito may finally be easing.

The Damage They Must Repair

King Charles showing his firmness by removing Prince Andrew from his home and stripping him of titles may have sent a clear message: Harry and Meghan need to sort out their lives. The couple treated both the King and the late Queen poorly, and the public will need convincing that they truly grasp the harm they caused — including the explosive suggestion that the Royal Family was racist, as Meghan implied in her 2021 Oprah interview.

Queen Elizabeth’s response — “recollections may vary” — was remarkably gracious. Whether the public can be as forgiving is another question.