Harry accused of undermining royal family with UK public engagements

Self-important Prince Harry is undermining the royal family with his public engagements in the UK, an expert has said.

The duke’s first scheduled public engagements since returning to the UK have now been revealed just days after King Charles‘ bombshell letter insisting Harry and Meghan remain “private citizens”.

Despite the growing row around the Sussexes’ status in Britain, Harry is scheduled to attend at least three events this month – as if he were still a working royal.

This includes the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards, the launch of the Invictus education programme INSPIRE and one of his favourite annual occasions, the WellChild Awards.

Royal experts have since told how the Sussexes’ list of public engagements is serving to widen the rift between them and the firm.

Angela Levin, a royal author, told The Sun: “I think it was to show that they were in charge now, that they are taking the spotlight away from the royals.

“They just decided to call themselves ‘Sussex Royal’ again, though I think that’s going to go down the drain.

“Meghan can’t bear anyone telling her what to do; she hates the UK. Harry was obviously persuaded to come here to see what tricks they could pull, but it’s not working.”

Full details of Harry’s appearances, including the exact dates, have yet to be published but the events were described by his team as his “September public engagements.”

It comes after Harry and Meghan were said to be “surprised” by the King’s formal letter sent by Lord Chamberlain.

The duke and duchess, who are waiting to hear whether they will be given taxpayer-funded security, were described as “akin to private citizens”.

A source close to the Sussexes has now hit out at the remark, telling PEOPLE: “They are public figures.

“Members of the public know who they are. The idea that they can live a normal, “private” life is sadly not realistic.”

But our royal experts have explained that the couple demanding to be treated as “public figures” and appearing at public engagements may be an attempt to overshadow the working royals.

Harry,41, and Meghan, 45, have been accused of attempting to set up a “parallel court” with their return to the UK from California.

Angela explained: “The King was quite right to set the boundary. You can’t have a situation where the rest of the royal family are doing one thing and she and Harry are doing something completely different that undermines their work.

“I think he waited too long before saying, ‘I’m not having any more of this,’ but thank goodness he finally did.”

Meanwhile royal expert Hugo Vickers, said: “The awful thing is that whenever they come to this country, if Prince William is doing one thing and Prince Harry is doing another, it will be interpreted as a competition—even if Prince Harry does not intend it to be.

“Therefore, it becomes a distraction. I don’t quite know what they want to do, but presumably, they want to raise their profile.

“If they intend to be public figures and carry out more of these appearances, they will inevitably be in competition with the royal family—effectively setting up an alternative court. That is not a positive development.”

The ongoing feud between Harry and Meghan and the King has seen Uganda withdraw from the 2027 Invictus Games.

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba saying he would not compete without the King’s approval.

Kainerugaba added that he felt compelled to do away with the “Harry-Meghan nonsense”.

The Sussexes blamed Uganda’s decision to pull out of the games on King Charles’ letter over their royal status.

But royal experts have said that the couple’s attempts to put themselves above the King have led to the disaster.

The Sussexes continuing to appear at public engagements as members of the royal family also led to confusion around their status.

While they remain royals the pair are not working royals and the Sandringham Agreement of 2020 still stands meaning they remain private individuals with no official working royal status.

Apart from their geographical location, nothing has changed but Charles needed to intervene to prevent the couple using their public engagements to set up a “parallel court.”

Phil Dampier, royal expert, said the couple’s charity work may look like attempts to put themselves above Harry’s brother and dad.

He explained: “The fear is that once they start doing charity jobs and turning up for various functions, they will look like royals, talk like royals, and call themselves the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but of course they aren’t working royals.

“So obviously, the Palace has had to make it extremely clear to everyone that even when people see them out and about, they are not representing the royal family.

“I think this is what the Royal Family is worried about: that when Harry and Meghan are out and about, who’s to say they won’t time things deliberately to overshadow other members of the royal family, particularly William and Catherine?

“That’s when we’re going to get problems with people saying they are stealing their thunder and acting like royals when they aren’t.”