Prince Harry is being warned by several royal experts to keep his head down and focus on charitable efforts after President Trump’s remarks about the royal and his wife.
Trump said on Friday that he isn’t interested in deporting the Duke of Sussex, who famously left Britain with Meghan Markle in 2020 and moved to California. The statements came on the same day the Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Vancouver to kick off the Invictus Games.
Harry, 40, is in hot water after conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation filed a lawsuit last year against the Department of Homeland Security to have his immigration records released, following his admission to past illegal drug use in his 2023 memoir “Spare.”
TRUMP DOESN’T PLAN TO DEPORT PRINCE HARRY, SAYING MEGHAN MARKLE IS ENOUGH OF A BURDEN FOR THE ROYAL
When asked by the New York Post if he would deport the royal, Trump replied, “I’ll leave him alone.”
“He’s got enough problems with his wife,” said the 78-year-old. “She’s terrible.”
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that this would be the perfect time for the Sussexes, particularly Harry, to focus on creating “consistent, transparent, and impactful work” to revamp their image as royals in America.
Since their move to California, the couple has aired their struggles with royal life.
“Limiting public discussions regarding personal grievances would be advised to shift the narrative back onto their charitable endeavors,” said Fordwich. “Letting the work speak for itself could rebuild public trust.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard also noted that Trump is known to admire the British royal family and “won’t unnecessarily jeopardize” his relationship with working members, including King Charles III and his heir, Prince William.
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“His stance is America first,” said Chard. “He is strong on border control, immigration and deportation. Despite his funny statement highlighting he won’t deport Harry, he could well have a change of heart if Harry is found guilty of lying on his visa documents. Prince Harry could be the perfect poster boy… however, Trump dislikes Meghan and deporting Meghan is not on the cards.”
Meghan, a former American actress, has criticized Trump in the past. The 43-year-old called him “misogynistic” and “divisive” during a TV appearance ahead of the 2016 election.
In 2019, before a state visit to the U.K. during his first term as president, Trump called the Duchess of Sussex “nasty” over her remarks about him. He then went on to meet with the royal family during the visit, minus Meghan, who was with her newborn son, Prince Archie, at the time.
He also told Piers Morgan in 2022 that Harry was “whipped like no person he had ever seen.”
More recently, Trump praised Harry’s estranged older brother, with whom he met privately in Paris in December during the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
“I think William is a great young man,” he told the New York Post.
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Chard believes there’s good reason that Harry and Meghan continue to face what the experts described as “a storm of criticism” five years after calling Montecito home.
“People don’t take too kindly to Harry and Meghan throwing their family to the wolves, upsetting the late great Queen Elizabeth II and humiliating the royal family,” Chard claimed.
“Trump speaks highly and values our monarchy,” said Chard. “For this reason, he is giving poor hoodwinked Harry a right to stay in the US. Prince Harry is a small fry for Trump to bother with. He has more important issues to deal with.”
The Invictus Games, which is Harry’s passion project, is an adaptive sporting competition for sick, injured and wounded service personnel and veterans. Harry founded the Invictus Games in London in 2014 after witnessing the U.S. Armed Forces’ Warrior Games and being inspired by their work.
The prince was a captain in the British Army.
“Harry’s best work is the Invictus Games which aim to inspire recovery, support, rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding for those who have served their country,” said Chard.
“This project is well respected and celebrated… They have been advised to look more united and prioritize joint appearances. But for Harry’s sake, and as he seems the most likable Sussex, he should go it alone on occasion. Alternatively, they will need to grow very thick skin.”
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Fordwich said that the couple’s controversies with the royal family “have overshadowed any hopes of focusing on any good work.” If the couple wish to revamp their image, they will need to display “genuine activism” that doesn’t appear as “suspected PR moves,” she claimed.
“Sadly, their personal drama rather than their initiatives, whether in mental health, environmental causes, or media production are overshadowed and merely come across as just attempting to divert attention from negative press,” Fordwich claimed.
“President Trump succinctly managed to sum up what most Americans probably think,” she added.
“If they had left the royal family, but been quiet about royal matters, their profile would, in my view, be far more favorable,” added royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams.
“I always doubted that Harry would be deported over the visa application issue,” he shared. “Donald Trump values his relationship with the royal family. And to have the fifth in line to the throne fighting to avoid being deported, if he hadn’t revealed his drug taking, would have been an undignified cause celebre. We know they have a mutual antipathy.”
The Heritage Foundation in its lawsuit says that Harry may have lied on his immigration forms about his past drug use or was given preferential treatment by the government, and called for the records to be released.
“I’ll be urging the president to release Prince Harry’s immigration records and the president does have that legal authority to do that,” Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation previously told the New York Post.
Last year during the campaign, Trump said in an interview that the government would have to take the “appropriate action” if Harry was found to have lied on his immigration forms, but didn’t explicitly say he would seek to deport him.
Trump also accused the Biden administration of “protecting” Harry, saying in a separate interview with the Daily Express in February 2024, “I wouldn’t protect him. He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”
“For Harry, this could not have come at a worse time, because he wants to reinvent himself after a particularly difficult year,” U.K. royal correspondent Neil Sean told Fox News Digital.
“I’m told Harry believes that time out of the United States might be a good reset for both [him and Meghan],” Sean shared. “[But]… she needs to push ahead with her career and things like her upcoming Netflix show, ‘With Love, Meghan.”
The couple is said to be focused on carving out individual roles for themselves. The duchess is gearing up to premiere her lifestyle series in March. According to sources, it will coincide with the debut of her brand, American Riviera Orchard. As for Harry, he remains devoted to the Invictus Games.
Harry has had a troubled relationship with the royal family since the couple quit royal duties. According to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media prompted the move.
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After sitting down for a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that was viewed by nearly 50 million people globally in 2021, they unveiled their controversial Netflix docuseries, “Harry & Meghan,” in late 2022. Then, in early 2023, Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” was published.
Each launch highlighted new allegations about their time as working royals.
Fitzwilliams wondered if the latest scandal surrounding Harry’s visa will prompt the Sussexes to go back to their roots as royals.
“When Harry and Meghan arrived at the opening of the Invictus Games in Canada there were echoes of their first appearance in public together in 2017,” said Fitzwilliams. “Invictus is a remarkable achievement… Their opening speeches at the Invictus Games were confident. Their future, certainly as Hollywood A-listers is confused. In their statements, they stand for all the virtues. Yet, charity also begins at home.”
