Prince Harry has sought advice from trusted former aides in Britain on how to mastermind a return from exile in the United States, The Mail on Sunday can reveal
Sources said the Duke of Sussex is consulting people ‘from his old life’ as a working royal after allegedly growing dissatisfied with advice from American-based image experts.
The overtures signify the first stage in a strategy to ‘rehabilitate’ Harry that would involve him spending more time in the UK to repair his relationship with his father and potentially initiate a partial return to the royal fold.
Sources stressed that Harry and Meghan, who have spent the past four years living in self-imposed exile in California with their two children, are not seeking a permanent return.
This newspaper can also reveal that the couple have parted company with yet another American PR adviser. Christine Weil Schirmer joined the Sussexes in 2020 as head of communications but left quietly late last year.
Last month, it emerged that the Sussexes’ chief of staff Josh Kettler had suddenly quit his job after scarcely three months.
‘Harry is turning away from all sorts of Hollywood publicists and is seeking counsel from his old friends and associates,’ said a source.
‘He is clearly reaching out thinking, “I need to do something different because what I’m doing is clearly not working”. In short, he is rethinking the way he operates.’
Separately, the Duke, who turns 40 this month, has sent conciliatory messages to a number of old friends in the UK on WhatsApp. They are ready and willing to help him smooth a path back to Britain, with some referring to their task as Operation Bring Harry In From The Cold.
Friends are hoping the Duke’s former private secretary Edward Lane Fox might spearhead a comeback. One said: ‘If anyone can do it, Edward can. Last time I saw him I wanted to take him by the shoulders and say, “Ed, please bring our boy home”. It’s the right time now.’
Asked about helping Harry, Mr Lane Fox told this newspaper: ‘It’s not something I’ve got a view on I’m afraid.’
Although Harry’s relationship with his brother is feared irreparably damaged, the Duke has seemed less embittered of late.
To his family’s relief, he has decided against updating his acrimonious memoirs, Spare, for its paperback edition, due out on October 24, and will not be giving interviews to publicise it.
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