Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ‘won’t slot in line’ and be ‘controlled’ by Prince William as Fab Four split, royal expert reveals
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry are breaking away from the Fab Four as they “won’t slot in line” and be “controlled” by Prince William, according to a royal expert.
In the latest development of the alleged royal rift, the Sussexes are about to break away from the couples’ joint charity, the Royal Foundation, today.
Royal commentator Duncan Larcombe said the move demonstrates that Meghan, 37, and Prince Harry, 34, are keen to “do things their own way”.
Speaking to Fabulous Digital, he said: “It does seem odd. Why separate when you are both backing the same causes? Whether this is a sign of a rift, this is certainly a sign of a division.
“It is clear that Meghan and Harry were initially prepared to slot in under the wing of William and Kate but that’s not how they feel a year on.”
The young royals were dubbed the “Fab Four” after they appeared together on stage together last spring for their charity’s first Q&A forum – in what was supposed to be an annual event.
But just months after their first - and only - joint appearance, The Sun revealed the two couples will go their own way and pursue their charities separately.
Duncan said: “Harry is going to forge his own path with Meghan. For years, before he met Meghan, he was the royal gooseberry standing behind William and Kate.
“He’s now a full-time working royal with his wife, he wants autonomy as to what he does, how he does it and how she does it, which is a definite change to how it was 12 months ago."
Meghan and Harry aren’t going to be controlled by William. They are going to do it their way.
Duncan Larcombe
A palace insider told the Sunday Times: "William’s quite controlling, and he was in control when it was just the three of them, but now he’s not."
They added that Meghan "knows all the tricks" and is helping Harry to maxing their "standable brand" and "William's going to have to get used to it."
Duncan echoed these thoughts, and said: “Meghan and Harry aren’t going to be controlled by William. They are going to do it their way, and there is scope for them to do that.”
Royal aides have been quick to point out that it’s not the end for the four of them working on individual projects together.
But it’s a major blow for the Royal Foundation, which Meghan only officially joined after her wedding last May, which had intended to harness the star power of all four.
And it comes after Harry and Meghan broke away from Kate and William’s household at Kensington Palace to establish their own.
According to the , Kate, William and Harry’s previous Private Secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, said that the aim was for the brothers to work together “to the full”.
Duncan said the Royal Foundation was proof of the intention for a united William and Harry working relationship.
He said: “It was absolutely the goal for the brothers to work together ‘to the full’.
“Why would they have set up the Fab Four foundation unless it was the intention for them to work together?
“But what we’ve seen now since Harry and Meghan got engaged and certainly since the wedding, is they actually they have their own views on how they want to do things.
“They do want to be independent, they’ve got their own press offices, they’ve split from Kensington Palace, they’ve moved to Windsor.
“There are all these signs that show whatever the plan was, it wasn’t set in stone and there has been a major rethink.”
The Royal Foundation board meeting today is expected to confirm the split, and Duncan said any division could be beneficial to charities they separately support.
He said that the two dukes bring different coverage for organisations, adding: “William is the man if you want someone to come and open an estate.
“Harry is the one if you want someone to laugh around and have lots of fun and get a lot of media attention. They’ve got different things to offer charities."
A royal source previously said a working split had helped to ease the relationship between Harry and William.
They commented: “Things did get very bad between the brothers and they didn’t see each other privately for a number of months after the royal wedding.
Harry is going to forge his own path with Meghan. For years, before he met Meghan, he was the royal gooseberry standing behind William and Kate.
Royal editor Duncan Larcombe
“Certainly the animosity over status, money and Meghan meant that the split in their joint households had to be brought forward much more quickly than anticipated, so perhaps it was inevitable that their joint charity has to be split too.
“Meghan and Harry want to do things differently to William and Kate. William is the future king and so is sometimes restricted in what he can do.
“The Sussexes want the flexibility of more commercial decisions. But the brothers’ relationship has vastly improved since their working lives have separated.”
WHAT IS THE ROYAL FOUNDATION?
The Royal Foundation was established in September 2009 to help Prince William and Prince Harry support their charitable ambitions.
It was intended that the Foundation would be used as the main channel of supporting their charitable grants.
Kate then joined when she became Duchess of Cambridge in 2011 and Meghan Markle became a part of it when she married Prince Harry in May 2019.
The First Royal Foundation Forum was held in Feburary 2018 with William, Catherine, Harry and Meghan Markle in attendance.
The Foundation has collaborated with two organisations to date; Fields in Trust and ARK.
Wills and Harry established the Royal Foundation in 2009 to run all their charitable campaigns and ventures.
Kate then joined when she became Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.
They would often appear as a trio at events, and the Foundation had huge successes with projects like the Invictus Games for inured veterans and the mental health Heads Together campaign.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment when contacted by Fabulous Digital.
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