Prince Harry asking aides from ‘old life’ to help him ‘plot return from exile’

Prince Harry has reportedly asked former aides in the UK to help him plan a return from exile.

The Duke of Sussex ditched royal life after stepping down with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020 and moving to the US. His relationships with brother Prince William and father King Charles III are understood to have been tense for some years.

But Harry might be looking to come back into the fold and has been talking to people “from his old life”, sources said. However they did not indicate that Harry and Meghan were looking to move back to the UK and abandon their life in Montecito, California.

Some friends have referred to the possible plans as ‘Operation Bring Harry In From The Cold’, reports the Mail on Sunday. The newspaper also said the move had been taken as Harry seeks counsel “from his old friends and associates” instead of “all sorts of Hollywood publicists”. The Mail said Harry and Meghan had parted ways with American PR adviser Christine Weil Schirmer.

Ms Schirmer took up a job with PR company Brunswick last month, but stopped working for the Sussexes late last year.

One source said it was hope Harry’s former private secretary Edward Lane Fox was being touted as a possible keystone for the project. But Mr Lane Fox told the Mail: “It’s not something I’ve got a view on, I’m afraid.”

A source said: “[Harry] 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.”

One close associate is said to have come up with a plan for how Harry might start to re-engage with people in UK circles again, with the potential to carry out “low-key royal duties”. Harry is said to be open to different ideas, however.

One source said: “Harry comes back to the UK with zero fuss, and does zero publicity and attends very mundane events, he could prove himself and win over the British public again. He would have to accept, though, that he might be reduced to ribbon cutting for a long period. But it would give him purpose to work again.”

But this would depend on senior royals supporting the idea. Harry’s feud with his brother Prince William shows no sign of cooling down.