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

Prince Harry is said to be looking at a way back from exile and is consulting friends about how to achieve it in what sources are calling ‘Operation Bring Harry In From The Cold’

Sources said Harry is looking at mixing in British circles again (
Image: (Image: Getty))

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.

Harry and William did not speak at a funeral this week, reports say ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

Harry and Meghan don’t plan to move back to the UK, sources said ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
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.

Harry flew from the US to join William at the service at St Mary’s Church in Snettisham, Norfolk, on Thursday, The Sun said. The newspaper said that the brothers made a discreet appearance and sat apart at the back of the church, keeping their distance from each other and not speaking. The princes did not meet when Harry spent time with the King at Clarence House after news of his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

Harry published his memoir Spare last year, in which he accused William of pushing him into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan. It was also claimed William teased Harry about his panic attacks.

But the King is reportedly open to some kind of reconciliation after ‘seeking advice’ from multiple religious leaders.