Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to have been shunned from celebrating Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham, with their recent attempts to build bridges shot down as “love bombing”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s actions have been labelled “bizarre” after the pair were said to have hoped to rekindle their relationship with the royals.
Sources closes to the Sussexes reportedly briefed publications on Harry’s intent to call his father to wish him a happy birthday on Tuesday.
But despite their supposed attempts at handing out an olive branch, insiders claim the couple would likely be unwelcome at Christmas this year.
According to Mail Online, Harry and Meghan shared a video of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, singing happy birthday to their grandfather.
One source said: “It seems as if they are really doubling down on their reconciliation strategy.
“It’s so bizarre to have behaved so badly, demanded an apology and an admission of ‘guilt’ — to no avail, I might add — from the family and now suggest they’ll just waltz back in and allow bygones to be bygones if only someone would be good enough invite them.”
The couple had been invited to join the family at Balmoral in the summer but had chosen not to visit since 2018.
They added: “Which begs the question, why now? Is it something to do with the fact that some of their commercial deals, such as Spotify, have fallen around their ears and they have been subject to ridicule in the U.S. in shows such as South Park and Family Guy?”
“Could it be that they have realised moaning about how awful being a member of the Royal Family is, isn’t such a great strategy after all?”
The source noted that any invitation may not go down well with other senior royals, including the Prince of Wales, whose relationship with his younger brother is now non-existent.
Sources in the past have suggested the King would never fully “shut the door” on his youngest son in the hopes of their relationship being repaired over time.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the latest reports.