EXCLUSIVE: A PR expert has laid out the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s ‘biggest challenge’ ahead of their UK return, as she encourages them to ‘stop explaining themselves’12:49, 26 Aug 2026Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are facing their ‘biggest challenge’ ahead of their move back to the UK, as a PR expert has urged them to change their tact as they face ‘becoming irrelevant’.‌The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are just days away from moving back to Harry’s home country, with their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, set to start the new school year in the UK in September.‌While their move back to Britain has caused a stir with some royal commentators, others have seen their relocation as a chance to rebuild their relationship with the Royal Family if they play their cards right.‌And according to PR expert Mayah Riaz, Harry and Meghan could possibly rehabilitate their image in the UK, but only if they make some major changes in their day-to-day work, and stop levelling accusations against the Royal Family.Mayah told the Mirror : “I believe they can, but I’d say that it would require a very different PR strategy from the one we have seen from them in recent years. The biggest opportunity for Harry and Meghan is to not try to convince us to love them again, but giving us a reason to feel neutral or positive about them.‌"They probably cannot PR their way back into being universally popular, and I don’t think that should be the objective. What they can do is gradually rebuild goodwill through consistency, restraint and work that feels meaningful rather than heavily managed.”The PR mogul continued: “The Sussex brand has been built around telling their side of the story, but they may find a more powerful PR move would be to stop explaining yourself and simply let your actions do the talking.”‌The most recent popularity polls conducted by YouGov place Harry and Meghan at 33 percent and 22 percent respectively, with their favourability remaining in low figures since they quit their royal roles and relocated to America in 2020.And while their popularity has increased marginally over the last few months, Mayah believes the Sussexes have a complicated relationship with the British public, as she explained: “I think it is a mixture of anger, fatigue and indifference, and from a PR perspective that is actually more complicated than outright dislike.“There will always be a section of the public who remain very emotionally invested in Harry and Meghan, whether positively or negatively. But I think there is also a growing sense of fatigue around the Sussexes.‌"When every appearance, interview or project seems like it’s a debate about the Royal Family, people may feel that they have heard the story before. The biggest danger for Harry and Meghan now is not necessarily being disliked. It is becoming irrelevant.”Mayah believes the Duke and Duchess can succeed in their chosen ventures in the UK and start to rebuild a more positive relationship with the UK public if they forge their own paths away from their royal connections, and stop airing their grievances about the Firm.‌“The Royal Family is obviously the elephant in the room,” the PR expert said. “It is extremely difficult to build a completely separate celebrity identity when so much public interest in Harry and Meghan still comes from their relationship with the institution they left.“There is also a perception among some members of the public that there has been too much focus on grievances and not enough distance from them. Whether Harry and Meghan agree with that, perception is almost irrelevant from a PR point. Perception becomes reality when it is repeated often enough."‌She continued: “I feel that if they genuinely want to change the narrative, they need to demonstrate that they have moved into a new chapter rather than continually revisiting the previous one.”Mayah believes that one way for them to slot into this new chapter is to continue their various charity and entertainment work, branch out further and undertake more roles as individuals rather than together, and to not focus on rehabilitating their image to make themselves more appealing.The PR mogul said: “I think we will see them continue to diversify their work, but I would hope they are not approaching it as a traditional ‘rebrand’. Rebrands can look incredibly calculated when they involve public figures.‌“Harry probably has more potential to reconnect with the British public through causes where his credibility is already established, particularly veterans, mental health and charitable work. Meghan has the more complicated challenge because she needs to establish what her identity is outside of being Harry’s wife and a former member of the Royal Family."‌She continued: “The strongest strategy for both would be to build individual credibility while occasionally coming together, rather than constantly presenting themselves as a package.”With the British public no doubt invested in Harry and Meghan’s move to the UK, wondering what kind of work they will take on and how the proximity may impact their relationship with the royals, Mayah has advised the Sussexes to keep their heads down, engage in meaningful work, and not worry about the public narrative.“Ultimately, I think Harry and Meghan’s biggest PR challenge is that they are still trying to control a narrative that has become bigger than them,” she said. “The public does not necessarily need another explanation from the Sussexes. They need to see something different. The strongest rebrand for Harry and Meghan may actually be to stop trying so hard to rebrand.”Article continues below