Royal expert Richard Eden suggested that Prince Harry and Markle won’t be able to make up with the royal family if they don’t do so while King Charles III is still alive.

It’s hard to tell what’s going on between Prince Harry and the rest of the British royal family, but from Richard Eden’s perspective, the Duke and Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍 are becoming “irrelevant.” Eden – a long-time royal reporter and the Diary Editor of The Daily Mail – shared his impression of royal relations on the outlet’s talk show this week. He said that Markle and Prince Harry are “running out of time” to rejoin the royal ranks.

Eden suggested that Prince Harry and Markle are “not wanted” by most of the royal family, and their only hope of reestablishing a good relationship there comes from King Charles III. He said that “time is running out to come back while [Harry’s] father is still king,” and that he would not have time to mend fences once Prince William takes over. Eden did not speculate about whether Prince Harry and Markle actually want to return to the royal lifestyle, though the prince himself has made it clear in many interviews that he hopes to improve his personal relationships with his family.

“If Harry wants to come back at any stage, he needs to do it while his father is still King,” Eden said. “I really think that when Prince William is King, I can’t see him letting Harry come back and have a role again. They are irrelevant now, they are just not wanted as part of the monarchy. Maybe there could be some radical change but it’s hard to see.”

Eden also claimed that Prince Harry was “central” to the royal family’s plans in years past, saying: “We saw that at Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 where it was just Harry and his brother, Camilla and Charles and of course, the queen. Charles thought that when Harry had a family, they would be carrying out engagements and sharing those duties with William so, I think time is running out.”

That contradicts Prince Harry himself, who wrote in his memoir Spare that Markle was never invited tot take on a role as a working royal. In fact, according to the prince, he had a meeting with his father in 2017 about his intentions to propose to Markle and what their life would look like once they were married. The king reportedly asked if Markle would “want to carry on working,” and Prince Harry said that she would rather “be with me, doing the job.” The king replied: “Hmm, I see. Well, darling boy, you know there’s not enough money to go around… I can’t pay for anyone else. I’m already having to pay for your brother and Catherine.”

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Prince Harry wrote that he and Markle even suggested several compromises to the royal family, with arrangements that would allow him to continue working for the monarchy at a reduced capacity, allowing him to live with Markle overseas part time while she continued acting. He said that these were all rejected, and growing strain in the palace led to the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es’ departure from royal duties altogether in 2020.

It’s unclear if anything has changed in terms of finances and available work that would open up a space for Prince Harry and Markle to come back into the fold. There’s no indication that that’s what they would want either, as they have lives and careers going strong now in California. So far, none of the family members have commented publicly on Eden’s speculation.