Prince Harry may have left the Royal Family because he was ageing out of his role and he “saw a way out”, it has been suggested. The topic of conversation came up during a discussion following Harry’s visit to the UK along with wife Meghan Markle and children Archie and Lilibet.
There were rumours before the visit that Harry would be staying at Buckingham Palace, although this did not happen.
Talking about his decision to leave the family in Janaury 2020 on The Telegraph’s Royal T podcast, the newspaper’s royal editor Hannah Furness appeared to suggest that age and changing roles may have played a part.
After the panel praised Harry for his work with the Invictus Games, she said: “It felt a bit frozen in time.
“Is it the same old lovable Harry or is it that he’s in his 40s now and William and the King have kind of moved on in their roles drastically?”
Guest commentator Simon Vigar agreed and said: “To me it’s ‘look what you’re missing’, and it’s terribly sad that Harry and Meghan aren’t a part of the Royal Family. Egos got in the way and you know, it should never have happened. It should have been prevented.
“He saw a way out in 2020, he thought they could have a hybrid role, then they were told at the Sandringham summit ‘you can’t have a hybrid role’.
“He saw a way out and he’s gone for it and maybe he felt [like] ‘actually, how long can I keep up the shtick anyway?’.”
Telegraph associate editor Camilla Tominey agreed and said: “I’ve always said how good he is with the general public and people with profound disabilities, how good he is at committing himself fully to the causes he champions. I think he’s like his mother and he really wants to make a difference.
“I think he’s got lost in a sort of sea of a degree of woe is me-ism that’s completely misplaced, because at the end of the day you’re a multimillionaire living in Montecito.
“Stop bloody grumbling and just get on with life.”