Prince Harry made a mistake when quitting royal life with Meghan Markle, a former royal butler has said. Grant Harrold, who worked for King Charles when he was the Prince of Wales between 2004 and 2011, knew Harry, 40, well during his time working for the Royal Family, and thinks the duke made one key mistake when leaving his royal life behind in 2020.

Grant said that by doing a “complete breakaway”, Harry and Meghan have severed a lot of their royal ties and are unlikely to be working royals again. Speaking on behalf of Slingo, the former butler said: “I think things could have been different if Harry and Meghan had done a longer test run of the half-in and half-out scenario, rather than a complete breakaway. Then they could have worked out all the bumps in the road. But that was a long time ago now.”

Grant continued: “Could they return? I'm not sure they could ever be working royals again.

“I have no doubt some members would welcome them back into the family but not as they were before. Harry and Meghan are both still technically senior royals and they have an important role to play if they want, but I don’t think they do.”

The former royal butler also said that he doesn’t think the situation with Harry and Meghan will change when Prince William takes to the throne.

It is believed that the brothers have not been on talking terms since the release of Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare in 2023.

Grant said: “When William eventually becomes King, I don’t think things will change.

“Obviously it would be nice for him to have his brother by his side but for William. He won’t close any doors and if the relationship is healed, then who knows? But I can’t see it happening.”

Since moving to California in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have shown no signs of wanting to return to the UK full-time or to resume royal duties.

Instead, the couple have been spending their time at their Montecito mansion where they have worked on joint and solo work projects, with the most recent being Meghan Markle’s Netflix show “With Love, Meghan”, which aired earlier this month.