The name ‘Meghan’ bears a certain resemblance to ‘Me Again’. If the recent newspaper reports are to be believed, ‘Me Again’ is precisely what Britain is to be treated to, in the form of the return of the Duchess of Sussex to these shores this summer.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Prince Harry’s taxpayer-funded protection will be restored imminently; nevertheless, the mood music in the Sussex camp has been sufficiently confident for a story suggesting just that to be leaked to the media. If this does come to pass, it looks increasingly likely that Meghan Markle will be returning to Britain in a few months for the first time since September 2022.
It is thought that the occasion that will lead to Meghan’s return to her former home is a series of promotional events for the Invictus games, which will be taking place in Birmingham next summer. Her husband will be visiting Britain later this year to bang the drum for the games, and camp Sussex knows that the presence of both man and wife will lead to an even greater amount of media coverage, especially in this country.
This year was supposed to be a quieter, happier one for the royal family
While it has been speculated that the Duchess of Sussex has no wish to return to Britain, a well-placed source told the Sunday Times that such stories are rubbish, saying:
I think she would come back with him [and the children]. They love to do stuff as a family whenever they can, and when they do things as a couple philanthropically, they often do take the kids along privately. I can’t see a reason why he’d come over with the kids without her.
Leaving aside the idea that it seems difficult to imagine the star of With Love, Meghan and her husband doing things ‘as a couple philanthropically’, the narrative about a mooted return has clearly been dangled to assess public reception to the idea. Portions of the press have greeted the news with a kind of quasi-chumminess – referring to the Duchess, as one paper has, in overfamiliar fashion as ‘Meg’. If this is anything to go by, we will see a beaming Meghan tripping down the stairs of a private jet in the far from distant future.
Precisely what this means for the wider royal family is, as yet, uncertain. When Harry returned solo last September, he won a good deal of praise for his cheerful and accessible demeanour – a far cry from the sullen and angry litigator who will be in the High Court again next week to sue the Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers. Only the unfortunate revelation that the private meeting between him and the King had its details leaked to the press spoilt the accord.
Yet if Harry were to come back en famille, with a wife who has repeatedly spoken on international television about the poor and discriminatory treatment that she has received from his family, it is unlikely that there will be any more reunions over tea with papa. Similarly, the idea that Harry and Meghan will reconcile with the Prince and Princess of Wales is about as likely as Lord Lucan joining the merry band à cinq for a game of Monopoly.
There will always be admirers of Meghan, in particular, who take to social media on a regular basis to castigate her detractors for what they describe as racism, misogyny and the rest. They will be delighted at the prospect that she will once again be gracing Britain’s luxury hotel suites and couture salons for a few days. The rest of us, who have learnt to live without the presence of the Montecito marvel, will be watching with anticipation not untouched with trepidation. This year was supposed to be a quieter, happier one for the royal family. This news, however, suggests that the drama of the past few years shows no signs of abating.