It's "going to take years" for Harry and Meghan to make up with the royals: expert

And that's if they make the first move towards reconciliation

The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Visit Australia
(Image credit: Getty Images)

From afar, it looks like Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship — and consequently that of their wives as well — has reached something of a stalemate.

On the one hand, the Waleses are reportedly very upset by some of the revelations and accusations the Sussexes have made in the media, but on the other hand, Harry  said in early 2023 that he felt the ball was in his brother and father's court for a reconciliation.

Say, however, that Harry and Meghan decided to change their tack and try to make contact with William and Kate and other members of the Royal Family, and attempt to mend the relationship in some way. Even then, one royal expert fears it would take years and years of undoing for the family unity to be restored.

"Some of what Harry and Meghan have said, particularly about Kate, was so personal, and it's going to take years to heal the hurt because of the damage that's been done," Duncan Larcombe told New! magazine (via the Mirror).

"It's going to take more than an apology to fix the relationships." An apology which — might we remind you — does not appear to be forthcoming, possibly because the Sussexes don't feel they have done anything wrong, and the Waleses feel the same way about themselves.

The "personal" revelations the Sussexes have made about Kate include the time the Princess of Wales allegedly made Meghan cry ahead of her wedding because of a problem with the bridesmaid dresses, and the time the two women got into a fight because Meghan said Kate was dealing with "baby brain."

Meanwhile, to paint you a picture of the state of the two sides of the Royal Family right now, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Express US: "The rift is as deep as ever and the brothers' relationship is absolutely terrible." Oh dear.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.