What Would It Take For Meghan And Harry To Mend The Royal Rift?

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in early 2021 marked arguably one of the most important and challenging moments in the lives of the young couple. While the information that they revealed was no doubt imperative to their well-being, as well as their subsequent decision to step down from royal duties, it's no secret that these events put a rift between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family.

For example, Prince Harry once appeared to have quite a close relationship with his brother William — but now? We're not so sure that they're as close as they once were. According to The Sun, as a result of the two-hour TV interview with Oprah, Prince Harry and Prince William became "as far apart as it's possible to be" and even went nearly an entire year without speaking more than a few words to one another. 

Apparently, Prince William and Prince Harry even struggled to come together at an event honoring their late mother, Princess Diana. "[William] is so angry with [Harry] that it's totally unthinkable at the moment for them to be happily reunited and stood together at the unveiling of the Princess Diana statue," a source told The Sun. "It'll take a lot of work to patch things up so they can put on a united front."

And indeed, this is just one example of the rift that was created between the Harry and Meghan and members of the royal family as a result of the tell-all interview. We can't even imagine the tension that probably exists between the couple and whoever made those allegedly racist comments about their son, Archie (via the LA Times).

So where do things stand today between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the rest of the royals?

Sources say that Prince Harry and Prince William have begun to come closer since the interview and have been texting one another, which a source told the Daily Mail is a "step in the right direction" (via Express). Others seem to believe that the tension between the Sussexes and the royals is still quite present, and that there has been "very little progress" toward reconciliation, per the Daily Mail. According to Omid Scobie — co-author of the biography "Finding Freedom" that covers Meghan Markle and Prince Harry — both parties believe that not much has changed in terms of the rift between them. However, he added that "some feelings have subsided because time has done its things, so the door is very much open for those conversations to happen at some point."

Scobie explained that the couple and certain members of the royal family want all parties involved to take "accountability and ownership" for their respective responsibility in the remaining tension. He adds that according to Meghan and Harry, the rift can only mend if certain family members recognize and acknowledge the pain that they went through (via News Week).

But in the end, there is no question that Meghan and Harry are proud of the decisions they made to step down from their royal duties and focus their attention on their family, per The Mirror.