Prince Harry, Meghan 'Expected' A Warmer Welcome Than What They Received, Biographer Claims

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attempted to "mend fences" with the royals when they returned to the U.K. for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee last week but were unsuccessful, a royal expert has claimed.

Royal biographer Christopher Andersen weighed in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's recent return to his home country, telling Us Weekly that the couple likely felt "hopeful" about making strides in their relationships with other royal family members.

"They went there hoping to mend fences and ran into a brick wall," the "Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan" author claimed.

Andersen said he "was personally surprised" that Prince Harry and Markle were "excluded" from the royals' balcony appearance during Trooping the Colour on June 2 and suggested that palace officials "sidelined" the couple.

Last week, Prince Harry and Markle viewed Trooping the Colour from the Major General's Office, while his brother Prince William, father Prince Charles and grandmother watched the 96-year-old monarch's birthday parade from the Buckingham Palace balcony. The palace announced weeks before the Jubilee weekend that Queen Elizabeth was limiting the balcony appearance to royals "who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen."

Discussing the couple's exclusion, Andersen told the outlet, "I thought that there would be an opportunity for [Harry] to show up there to show the solidarity [and] the future of the monarchy. … I'm sure they expected to have a warmer welcome than what they received."

Prince Harry and Markle made their first and only official Jubilee appearance Friday during the Service of Thanksgiving in honor of the Queen at St. Paul's Cathedral, where they were seated away from Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The seating arrangement was decided upon by the palace in order "to avoid any unwanted attention" on the two couples, an unnamed source told Us Weekly.

But while they did not attend any other Jubilee event after that, Prince Harry and Markle extended an olive branch to Prince William, inviting the Duke of Cambridge and his family to their daughter Lilibet's first birthday celebration at Frogmore Cottage Saturday, unnamed sources told Page Six.

However, Prince William and Middleton, who had a royal engagement in Wales that day, reportedly rejected the invitation.

"Things are still fraught — William is still wary of spending any time alone with Harry as you never quite know what may be reported back afterward," one U.K.-based insider claimed to the outlet.

Prince Harry and Markle quietly left the U.K. and returned to California Sunday before the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, which closed out four days of festivities.

Royal expert Angela Levin, author of "Harry: A Biography of a Prince," told Mail Online that she believes the couple should have stayed in the U.K. longer.

"They should have stayed for a few days afterward, spent time with the Queen after her duties had finished, tried to make things right with William," Levin suggested.

The royal author, who worked closely with Prince Harry for his biography, claimed that the duke had "lost all respect for anybody now" and couldn't hide his "impatience and self-destruction" during the Platinum Jubilee.