Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Want UK Return To 'Look Like Royal Tour,' Journalist Claims

A royal expert has suggested a possible reason why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the date of their return to the U.K. in advance.

During a recent interview on the "Palace Confidential" podcast, Mail on Sunday editor at large Charlotte Griffith suggested that it was part of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's PR strategy for a successful U.K. visit. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

"I think they've announced these dates because they want to give a chance for crowds to gather because if they do have a Netflix crew with them, they don't want to...I mean, imagine how embarrassing [it would be] if there were about three people up there sort of waving," Griffith claimed. "They want us all to get excited and to talk about it, and they want it to look like a royal tour, I think."

"Femail Falf-Hour" podcast host and Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine, another guest on the podcast episode, agreed with Griffith's opinion, suggesting that Prince Harry and Markle still think of themselves as royals but "cherry-pick" what they want to do.

"I think they do still think of themselves as royals. I mean, they behave like royals, and they use their titles. They just do the bits of being royals that they want to do," Vine claimed.

Royal correspondent and author Victoria Murphy, who also appeared in the episode, noted that Prince Harry and Markle have achieved a level of independence that they did not have when they were still serving as senior working royals.

"Despite the criticism that they get, they have kind of achieved ... what they want because they are now doing what things that they want to do, in the way that they want to do them. They have that control," Murphy said.

The royal expert added that the duke and duchess were aware of what they were giving up when they decided to step back from their roles as working royals in 2020, including the opportunity to represent Queen Elizabeth II, but still chose to have an independent setup.

On Monday, a spokesperson for Prince Harry and Markle confirmed that the couple will be in Britain in early September for a series of charitable events and will also travel to Germany to kick off next year's Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, People reported.

The couple will travel to Manchester, England, for the One Young World Summit on Sept. 5, Germany for the Invictus Games' "One Year to Go" on Sept. 6, and back to the U.K. for the Well Child Awards on Sept 8.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex "are delighted to visit with several charities close to their hearts in early September," the spokesperson said, according to the outlet.

They are not expected to bring their son Archie, 3, and 1-year-old daughter Lilibet this time around.

Prince Harry and Markle were last in the U.K. in June for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. During their visit, they introduced their daughter Lilibet to the monarch and her grandfather Prince Charles for the first time.