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    Poll backs Harry making first move as couple plan UK return

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    Poll backs Harry making first move as couple plan UK return

    Developing story first seen 2 hours ago

    · 2 hours ago

    A new poll for The Mail on Sunday shows most Britons believe Prince Harry, not Prince William, should make the first move in repairing their fractured relationship, as the Royal Family gathers at Balmoral following confirmation that Harry and Meghan plan to relocate back to the UK after six years in the United States. Senior courtiers are said to be reeling from the news, which King Charles was only told about last Sunday, and the development has intensified scrutiny of the long-running rift between William, 44, and Harry, 41, who have not spoken since Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September 2022. Reports also claim that Theo Rycroft, the King's deputy private secretary since February, has made reconciling the brothers his "number one task", though sources close to the King and William have dismissed this as baseless.

    The Find Out Now survey of 2,000 people found just 4% think William should initiate peace talks, while 31% believe the onus is on Harry, 27% think both should act equally, 11% said neither should, and 28% were unsure; separately, 43% felt the Sussexes owe an apology for past comments, against 26% who disagreed. The rift is widely attributed to fallout from "Megxit" in 2020 and subsequent grievances, including Harry's memoir claim that William left him with visible injuries during an altercation, and the couple's 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview alleging an unnamed royal raised concerns about their son Archie's skin colour, which William publicly rejected as racist. Insiders suggest any thaw might begin modestly, such as the brothers appearing together at the same event, though palace sources insist no formal rapprochement plan has been confirmed.

    • Poll: few Britons think William should make first reconciliation move
    • Harry and Meghan set to relocate to UK after six years abroad
    • Aide Theo Rycroft reportedly tasked with mending brothers' rift

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    Prince William and Prince Harry have been publicly estranged since their grandmother Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September 2022, a rift most commonly traced back to Harry and Meghan's 2020 decision to step back from royal duties, known as "Megxit". Tensions deepened further through Harry's memoir, which described a physical altercation with William, and the couple's 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, in which they alleged that an unnamed royal had raised concerns about the skin colour of their son Archie, a claim William rejected as racist.

    Harry, 41, and Meghan have lived in the United States for the past six years, while William, 44, remains heir to the throne alongside their father, King Charles. The brothers' relationship, and whether or how it might be repaired, has remained a subject of ongoing public and media interest, particularly given the King's own age and health considerations.

    Any reported plans for Harry and Meghan to move back to the UK, or claims about efforts within the royal household to encourage reconciliation, would therefore be seen against this backdrop of a long-running and largely unresolved family dispute, one that has played out unusually openly for an institution that typically keeps such matters private.

    Both sides, in good faith

    The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.

    The case for

    Those who believe Harry should make the first move argue that he is the one who stepped back from royal duties and subsequently aired the family's private grievances in a memoir, documentary and television interviews, causing lasting reputational damage to relatives who are bound by convention not to respond publicly. On this view, having chosen to speak out, the onus of extending an olive branch reasonably falls on the person who caused the rupture, and a simple, low-key gesture of goodwill from Harry would carry real symbolic weight in beginning to rebuild trust with his brother and father.

    The case against

    Others argue that expecting Harry alone to apologise misreads the nature of the rift, since he and Meghan have described feeling let down and unsupported by the institution and by individual family members, including Harry's own claim of a physical altercation with William. From this perspective, genuine reconciliation cannot be one-sided: William, as the more secure and powerful party within the family hierarchy, could afford to be magnanimous, and lasting repair is more likely to come from mutual willingness to listen and compromise than from placing the entire burden of the first move on Harry.

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