Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have sparked criticism after using their the royal Sussex title as a surname for their kids and their website, Samaa TV reported. This comes as a shock considering their years-long campaign to distance themselves from the British royal family.
The couple has been living in the U.S. after leaving the service of the royal family. Harry has not been on good terms with his family ever since, but that seems to be changing.
Harry and Meghan have reverted to using Sussex for their website address and as the last name for their children, Archie and Lilibet, after King Charles's Coronation last year. However, it may not be family unity that's behind this return to Harry's roots.
Dr. Carole Lieberman called Harry and Meghan "desperate souls" who are attempting to claw their way back to relevance, GB News reported. It might be that Harry and Meghan miscalculated the value of being ex-royals when they burned bridges.
The couple's smear campaign against the royal family reached its height with Harry's memoir Spare. Lieberman blames Meghan for picking at Harry's wounds, stoking "the anger and resentment" he's felt "towards his family since his mother died."
However, the American psychologist doesn't let Harry off the hook completely. "She allowed him to bring out some of the anger and resentment that he had towards the Royal Family ever since his mother died," Lieberman said of Meghan.
"He is not blameless, but she is the one who's perpetuating more. I think Harry is beginning to see things clearly since King Charles was diagnosed with cancer," she added.
"I think it began actually a little while ago, but it's sinking in now how much he misses his family and how they're not going to be around forever to be spoken to or disregarded or dissed in all the ways that they have been doing." Lieberman suspects rumors are true that Harry is thinking he must eventually leave Meghan to rejoin his family.
"But it is sad. At the Queen's funeral, that was when it began. You could see his face, that he was feeling not only lonely but sad that he hadn't been around with her longer," Lieberman said.
It might seem to the casual observer that the name change for their children indicates hopes of a reconciliation. Lieberman believes it's more about Meghan hoping to recapture some of the attention they received as royals.
"They are getting desperate, ever more desperate. I think Meghan thought that when they went back to the United States that she and Harry would be very popular. They made all these plans about charities and so on," Lieberman pointed out.
"And she thought that they'd be able to do this just by carrying over the royal titles that they have and the history that they have and not doing any work as royals." Although they quit working for the royal family, the couple maintained their titles as Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Unfortunately, Meghan's hopes of continued fame seem to also be crippled by the fact that she has no talent. In June, Variety revealed that United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer said her podcasting contract was canceled due to the fact that she was "no great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent."
Harry and Meghan have made severe missteps and may never be back in the good graces of the royal family. While Harry is clearly conflicted over the loss of family, Meghan seems concerned only for her career and fame.
