The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to be hoping their new roles within the Royal family can be worked out “sooner rather than later.”
Speaking to me on my radio programme on LBC News, royal author and broadcaster Neil Sean told me how it’s playing out across North America. “From the point of view of the public there’s a lot of people that wanted goodwill and they liked the fact that finally Americans had a connection to the British royal family.
“But it looks like Meghan’s decided ‘I’ve had enough. I’m going back to Canada. I already left the baby’.
“Over in New York it is different because they love the culture of celebrity and so they paint it as she’s been wronged. Whereas across more liberal areas people are thinking ‘what is she doing? What is she playing at? This is a golden opportunity.’
“She did know what she (Meghan) was getting into. Canada, again, is split and I think as each day develops and the fact she’s not playing by the rules I think it’s damaging not just the goodwill of Her Majesty the Queen but of the British public; she’s abandoned them, it won’t play out very well for her.”
With Meghan back in Canada, Prince Harry at home in the UK at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor and the Queen in the UK at Sandringham, what does all this say?
Neil tells me: “I feel sorry for her (the Queen) and a lot of people do. This has been another bone of contention. When you think about it she only recently had to contend with her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, being in hospital so close to Christmas.
“It’s a little unkind the way it’s all being played out. I think she’s now looking to Prince Charles and Camilla to try and work with Harry.
“But the problem is he (Prince Harry) is isolated. He’s stuck here having to face the music and if she (Meghan) had stayed with him they may have coped with it.”
Neil also tells me there are reports Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, doesn’t agree with Harry and Meghan’s idea. “You’ve got to remember with Meghan’s mother she’s been a very good influence on Harry. Very welcoming.
“At the royal wedding she (Doria) had such decorum. She’s kept her counsel. She’s never spoken openly. And with Prince Charles, you could see a great connection with those two.
“I’ve been told she (Doria) has spoken to him (Prince Charles). What’s interesting is I think the two parents are trying to say ‘what can we do?’
“But it’s almost like having petulant children, but suddenly they’re not children. They’re well into their 30s. They should have more respect.”
“I disagree with the fact Meghan had no idea what she was coming into. This is a woman who is incredibly ambitious.”
Neil continues: “She (Meghan) came from a celebrity culture. She knew what she was getting into. She just did not fancy the boring side of royal life, which is possibly schlepping around Sheffield on a Wednesday morning shaking hands with people in the community centre. That’s my theory.”
“The way I see this concluding is in a tragic way. He will be coming back here a lot (to the UK) because I think he will miss the structure of his formalised life.
“I think that’s how the marriage will play out in the end.”
National newspapers in the UK have mixed responses to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step back from senior royal responsibilities.
An online poll of 1,000 people by JL Partners is reported by the Daily Mail as showing the couple should be “evicted from their Windsor cottage and be made to pay back the £2.4 million of public money spent on refurbishing it” and should financially support themselves.
But the poll also suggests Britons support the young royals’ decision to step back from frontline duties.