Harry and Meghan: Atmosphere at palace will be 'cool' says expert

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Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations has been a source of widespread speculation as to how it will impact their relationship with the Royal family. It comes after the couple stepped away from royal duties and moved to California after tensions between them and senior royals. Richard Kay, writing for the Daily Mail, argued the moment the Queen meets their daughter Lilibet could be crucial, after an “olive branch” offered from Her Majesty.

This peace offering comes in the form of the Queen’s insistence that the Sussexes’ children, Archie and Lilibet, will have a grandstand view of the Horse Guards Parade, placing them alongside the Duchess of Cambridge and her three children.

Mr Kay wrote: “The significance of this olive branch invitation cannot be exaggerated.

“For it offers the real chance of not just healing the breach between the Sussexes and the royals but also repairing the House of Windsor brand, which, in America at least, has been severely tarnished by the Harry and Meghan falling-out.

“What’s more, it could ensure that the couple, who cannot be certain of the reaction they will receive from the public during the four days of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, are met with warmth rather than stony indifference.

Lilibet, who will turn one on Saturday, was named after a nickname given to Queen Elizabeth II when she was herself a child.

Mr Kay highlighted some of the criticism facing the Sussexes over naming their child after the Queen’s nickname, with fears that they were only doing so to cynically secure the couple’s long-term future as Royal Family members.

However, he went on to argue that “time is a great healer”.

He said: “I know the Queen, 96, is anxious to meet her 11th great-grandchild.

“Although such a meeting could be today, it may be delayed until Lilibet’s birthday on Saturday.

“If so, this would almost certainly take place in the Queen’s private apartments at Windsor Castle.

“But the timing would depend on whether there is a late change of plan and the Queen goes to the Derby after all, despite reports that she isn’t expected to attend.

“And if it does happen, imagine if a picture was released. A photograph of Lilibet meeting Lilibet would be a more eloquent symbol of family unity and forgiveness than any anonymous briefing.”

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He went on to argue that such a picture could also have a longer lasting impact, holding a “powerful metaphor for things to come”.

However, “goodwill is far from guaranteed” for Harry and Meghan, he added.

A recent YouGov poll found that the pair’s approval ratings were at an all-time low.

The Duke is viewed positively by only one Briton in three, while more than half see him in a negative light, giving him a net approval rating of minus 26.

Meghan fared even worse, with her approval rating going from minus 39 in March to minus 42.

But Mr Kay wrote: “The Queen is determined that the Jubilee should be a time to set aside differences and unite both the country and her family — hence her offer of ringside seats for Harry and Meghan.”

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