Opinion: Prince Harry should leave the US – but not take his children with him

Prince Harry has put himself in something of a tricky position. Though it certainly seems as though he’s living his best life in the US, numerous reports suggest something completely different. The estranged prince misses his home, they claim, he misses his friends, and possibly the lavish life he left behind.

Well, now’s the time, Harry. Settle your differences with your family before it’s too late – and do it without your kids present.

Prince Harry’s feud with the Royal Family appears for all the world to be a never-ending debacle. As is always the case with such things, there are many conflicting reports concerning what’s really going on. Because of that, it’s impossible to entirely reject even the most outlandish of claims being made. Some of them actually might have some substance; some of them could very well be true.

Now, no one is saying that the things Harry felt he was the victim of while a working member of the Royal Family are acceptable – they’re not – but it seems to be that’s it clearly time for him to move on, forget about the past, and do his utmost to bury the hatchet with his family. These days he and Meghan Markle aren’t the most important people in their lives anymore, but rather their children, Prince Archie and Lilibet, who have become definite victims of the unrest involving their family.

Prince Harry ‘using his children’ to revenge’ King Charles

In one way, it feels like Harry has used his children to exact a sort of revenge on his father, King Charles. Harry and Meghan have said that security issues – meaning that they’re no longer afforded the security they feel they desperately need – are the main reason for them not visiting King Charles, their children’s grandfather, and the rest of their Royal Family in the UK.

Several times has Harry indicated that he doesn’t even feel safe bringing his wife back to his homeland. And yet they both traveled to Colombia on what some have labeled an unofficial royal trip.

Interestingly, the U.S. Department of State has branded Colombia a Level 3 travel advisory, meaning they’re actively urging visitors to “reconsider travel” due to “crime and terror.” To me me, that sounds like a way more dangerous place for the Sussexes to visit than the UK.

Harry and Meghan are preventing their children from seeing their grandfather – and their grandfather from seeing his grandchildren – which is concerning. Sure, Archie and Lilibet will make friends at school and the like in the US, but they’re effectively being kept apart from one entire half of their family…

Archie and Lilibet’s relationships with their cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, as well as the other, older family members should be a priority for Harry and Meghan. Sadly, the Sussexes appear to have been blinded by their own frustrations aimed at the British monarchy, and they’re currently putting their children in a horrible situation for the future.

Why Prince Harry should leave the US – but without his children

When Archie and Lilibet eventually turn 18, will they ring the bell at Buckingham Palace, hoping for someone to let them in? Or will Harry and Meghan’s failure to acknowledge that their children should have the right to at least get to know their family mean that Archie and Liibet never even want to visit the UK, their royal cousins, aunts, uncles, and their grandfather?

While Harry and Meghan decided to leave royal life on their own terms, this time, Harry must fix what’s broken himself. It’s time for him to leave his plush life in the US, return to the UK, sit down with his family, and sort things out. Don’t bring your wife – and don’t bring your children.

Of course, Harry being away from his children for however long it might take to rebuild the bridges burnt with the likes of King Charles and Prince William isn’t ideal. But the idea that Harry would take his children without the promise of the state-funded security currently being denied them is highly fanciful.

The Duke of Sussex, remember, has already lost a High Court challenge to have his previous police protection reinstated, though he did win the right to appeal for it to be reviewed again.

Nonetheless, taking Archie and Lilibet with him to the UK would not be fair. First of all, they are still very young, and disrupting their everyday lives wouldn’t be fair.

Not only that, but the fact that the British paparazzi press would be all over them wouldn’t make things easier, and though Arhcie and Lilibet might not know exactly what “royal” might means – by all accounts they’ve had a sheltered life in Montecito – it makes no sense to give them their first taste of fame by having cameras flashing in their faces 24/7.

Archie & Lilibet will thank their father in the future

As mentioned, Harry, of course, wants what is best for his children. As things stand, with all that the prince has gone through, especially with his father and brother, can he put all his energy toward being a good father without confronting his past?

If Harry returns to the UK and settles his differences, the space and time away from his children and wife could be a way for him to heal personally. In the long run, it might help him grow as a person and father.

Finding proper meaning and looking at life from another perspective—one where he puts his children first—could be a game changer for Harry. He might not be the only active ingredient in this Royal Family feud, but he and his children are suffering for each year it rumbles on.

With their interviews, the Netflix series, and Harry’s book, Spare, it can be easily contested that the Sussexes have burdened their children. It’s now time for the Duke of Sussex to grow up, end this farce once and for all, and make his children’s relationships with their UK-based family his top priority. If he travels to the UK alone and makes things work, I’m sure Archie and Lilibet will thank their father a thousand times in the future.