King Charles III is facing blistering criticism over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to Britain, with a prominent royal biographer warning that the monarch’s handling of the couple could leave a lasting stain on his reign.
Royal author Tom Bower has accused the 77-year-old king of being too afraid of confrontation to stand up to his youngest son, arguing that Charles must make it clear Harry and Meghan will never be welcomed back as working members of the royal family.
Speaking with royal commentator Tom Sykes on The Royalist podcast, Bower delivered a scathing assessment of Charles’ leadership as tensions surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to simmer.
Sykes suggested the king was risking his legacy by allowing the couple to resume high-profile appearances in Britain while maintaining their independence from the monarchy. He also questioned the royal courtesies and security arrangements being extended to Harry.
Bower agreed, blaming Charles’ reluctance to confront his son on unresolved family tensions and lingering guilt over Harry’s childhood following Princess Diana’s death in 1997.
“He is weak. He hates confrontation,” Bower declared, describing the situation as a growing problem for the monarchy.
The royal biographer went even further, insisting Charles must take a much tougher stance against the couple.
“He’s got to decide to get rid of them. Tell them to leave. Make sure that they don’t believe that they can ever become royals here again,” Bower said.
His remarks come more than six years after Harry and Meghan stepped away from royal duties in 2020, eventually settling in California and launching independent media, business and charitable ventures.
Their unexpected return to Britain in August 2026, accompanied by their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, has reignited questions about whether the couple could gradually reclaim a more prominent place in British public life.
However, Buckingham Palace has already made clear that their return does not amount to a royal comeback.
In September, Charles authorized an unusual letter to senior government officials, military leaders and the monarch’s representatives across Britain clarifying that Harry and Meghan remain outside the working monarchy.
The guidance emphasized that their royal titles do not entitle them to resume official duties, their His and Her Royal Highness styles remain unused, and their charitable activities are conducted privately.
The letter described the couple’s position as comparable to that of private citizens pursuing commercial and charitable interests.
The distinction reportedly frustrated the Sussexes, whose representatives maintained that Harry and Meghan should be recognized as public figures who remain members of the royal family, even though they no longer perform official duties.
That disagreement has become increasingly significant as the couple resumes public engagements on British soil.
On October 15, Harry and Meghan made their first joint public appearance since returning to the country, visiting three charitable organizations in Nottingham, England.
The trip carried special significance because Nottingham hosted their first official joint engagement in 2017, shortly after they announced their engagement.
During the visit, the couple met young people at a community recording studio, supported a food-poverty charity and greeted crowds of well-wishers. Meghan also reunited with women involved in a charity cookbook project she previously supported.
Although the appearances resembled the public engagements they once carried out as senior royals, they were not official royal duties.
And despite Bower’s insistence that Charles should tell the couple to leave Britain, there is no indication the king has sought to force his son and daughter-in-law out of the country.
The controversy also comes amid signs that Charles and Harry have made some progress in their strained personal relationship, even as Harry’s relationship with his older brother, Prince William, reportedly remains deeply fractured.
For Bower and other critics, however, the concern is no longer simply whether father and son can repair their relationship. It is whether Harry and Meghan’s renewed public presence could blur the boundaries Charles has attempted to establish between the monarchy and the couple’s independent lives.
With the Sussexes once again attracting headlines in Britain, the dispute over their royal status appears far from settled.