There’s been a weird conversation popping up every few weeks. “Sources” say something about how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are considering issuing some kind of apology to the Windsors, or perhaps to Prince William and Kate specifically, and then other “sources” say no, that’s not happening. Many royal reporters now have pretty open communications with Team Sussex, and it appears that Team Sussex is pretty insistent that Prince Harry (in particular) is still angry at the Windsors and he will not apologize. I definitely think that the idea of “an apology from Harry and Meghan” is being thrown out there, not so subtly, by Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace as a prerequisite for any further reconciliation efforts. And we know from Harry’s own mouth that reconciliation is his biggest priority. So just how far would he go to, like, get a phone call or another family meeting? The i Newspaper says that a private apology might be forthcoming. There’s a lot of other information in this piece too:

What Harry will do in an effort to work things out: The i Paper has been told the couple are now prepared to apologise for aspects of the royal fallout, to try to mend relations with the Palace – but that doesn’t mean an apology is forthcoming…Although Harry has spoken publicly about his hopes for reconciliation with his family, he and Meghan want any reunion, and the details of how it is achieved, to be done privately. A previous report that they were ready to apologise for the racism allegations they made in the notorious Oprah interview were derided as “nonsense” by sources close to the couple. Nevertheless, The i Paper has been told the couple are willing to explore some form of a personal apology, but it is unclear what exactly they would be willing to issue a mea culpa for. A source close to the couple said: “If they need to apologise, they will, but that will be a discussion that happens in private.”

The palace won’t be happy with a private apology: The condition of any apology needing to remain private will raise eyebrows in the Palace, where the couple’s willingness to openly air family grievances have proven so damaging to relations. The source added that any apology could span some of the allegations made by the couple against the Royal Family in the Oprah interview, Harry’s memoir Spare, and their Netflix series about their decision to quit official duties.

Harry & Meghan won’t step outside when King Charles & Prince William are traveling: Striking a conciliatory tone, in the wake of media criticism that they are taking attention away from the King’s official duties, Harry and Meghan have vowed to avoid undertaking any public appearances while Charles is away on a nine-day royal tour of the Caribbean from next week. They will do the same when William, accompanied possibly by Kate, is in Mumbai for the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in mid-November….[The Sussexes] have taken the decision to try to keep a low profile, doing things privately while the King, Queen, and William are abroad, out of respect for them and also for the royal press pack, most of whom will be away covering the tours. Their office and the Palace exchange information about forthcoming plans but it is often not detailed enough to prevent diary clashes. A source close to the Sussexes suggested they would be happy to work around the King’s schedule to a greater extent if they had full access to his diary, but acknowledged that might be more than the Palace wanted to share.

The Nottingham events: The scenes in Nottingham caused consternation because Harry and Meghan’s visits to three charities essentially looked little different to official royal engagements, and risked undermining those activities by taking attention away. Buckingham Palace, like Kensington Palace, is treading a difficult line. Publicly, the Royal Household is not currently discussing the Sussexes. Privately, there is eye-rolling at the constant drama, but staff also acknowledge that it is natural for the press and public to compare and contrast now that Harry and Meghan are back in Britain.

The rival royal court: To that end, William made his first-ever talk show appearance as a surprise guest on The Graham Norton Show on Friday night. He was there to discuss his Earthshot prize and environmental ambitions. However, he follows in his brother’s footsteps, with Harry having appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in the US last year. It also comes amid palace concern – according to some royal insiders and commentators – over the growth of a rival Sussex court.

King Charles can play this out forever: One senior figure familiar with Palace thinking over the past few years said the household had to be cautious, neutral, and wait to see how genuine the Sussexes were about wanting reconciliation and how that would affect the institution. “There’s a reason that the parable of the prodigal son is the most popular story in the Bible,” the source said. “Many people will want to see them reconcile. But I think the public are also quite good at seeing through people. I’d think you’d want to give it quite a bit of time. They could be gone again next year. I think people will want to see that they are here for the long term… At the end of the day there’s a US-based commercial operation behind this couple. The public are always going to be asking why are they out on this visit? Is there a book coming or a film? It’s why I think the late Queen was right that you can’t be half in and half out.”

Harry and Meghan are happy to be back in the UK. “Most of his patronages are here and he used to have to join meetings on video. It’s really great that now he can do it all face-to-face,” the source close to the couple said. They have enjoyed catching up with relatives they have not seen much of in the past few years and are said to be speaking to the King “regularly”. But they have not seen him in person since they returned to Britain. “Everybody is busy. The King is busy being the King,” the source said, adding that Charles and Camilla had spent much of the time since then in Scotland – making a family reunion more difficult – but that they were expected to meet again soon. “The King doesn’t tend to come to you. You go to the King but they’ve got the children at school – normally one of them is doing the school run – which has made travelling difficult,” he said.

[From The i Newspaper]

I think it’s as I theorized, the palace is dangling the “reward” of “reconciliation” in front of Harry and they’re publicly telling him what needs to happen to get there – a public apology, with specificity about why exactly Harry and Meghan are “sorry.” Not only that, but the palace has made it clear that the Sussexes’ schedules must be coordinated with the king and heir, which amounts to the Sussexes telling both palaces where they (Harry and Meghan) are and where they plan to be forever. That’s the “coordination.” And don’t forget that Charles is more than willing to wait them out, which is a new wrinkle for the Sussexes – the palace is seemingly demanding to know how long the Sussexes will stay in the UK, because if they’re only going to stay for a year, Charles won’t bother.

Unfortunately, I can see Harry agreeing to a lot of this. Harry already coordinates his schedule (for the most part) with the palace, and he’s been doing that for more than a year. Harry will be incredibly willing to “coordinate” his schedule while Charles and William are traveling. I would imagine Harry would also love to stay in the UK for a long time, as long as necessary to “reconcile,” which is his top priority. The apology though… I’ve said it before, but if the Sussexes apologize publicly or privately, however carefully worded, it will be a huge turning point for a lot of people. Their credibility would be unrecoverable.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.