Wednesday marked a fresh chapter for the Sussexes, as they touched down in this country to begin their new lives. The non-working royals have reportedly decamped to the Cotswolds, the celebrity enclave that has welcomed plenty of other US exiles. But who will form Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s inner circle now they’re back in Britain?
The old friends are divided
Since Prince Harry’s relationship with his brother soured, childhood friends have found themselves on either side of this divide. “In some cases it’s been very awkward,” says Robert Hardman, author of Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story. “The new Duke of Westminster is friendly with both, but he’s very much on William’s side” (Prince Harry reportedly declined the invitation to his nuptials in 2024, despite reports that he is godfather to Archie, seven).
Weddings have shown where allegiances lie. Prince Harry did not attend his cousin Peter Phillips’s wedding in June this year, while Phillips remains close to Prince William, who was there. “Those fault lines are now fairly well-established,” Hardman says of the past six years. “The fact that they’re back in the UK doesn’t make much difference.”
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