Forget the talk of a royal peace offering: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not saying sorry.
A source close to the couple said they have no plans to apologize to Prince William and Kate Middleton over their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The denial knocks down a London tabloid report published Oct. 6, 2026, which framed such an apology as the Sussexes’ opening move toward peace with the royal family. The source told PEOPLE the report was “nonsense.” Harry is 42 and Meghan is 45. Two royal commentators said the same thing.
The Apology Story That Started It All
The report focused on the most explosive moment of the Winfrey interview, which was broadcast in March 2021. Meghan said then that royal family members discussed how dark her first child’s skin might be, before his birth. Neither Meghan nor Harry has identified the relative involved.
The report relied on an unnamed source. It said the couple now view the interview as their single greatest regret and believe they had gone too far. It also said they are seeking a sit-down with the Prince and Princess of Wales, where Meghan would apologize.
“Total Rubbish,” Royal Watchers Say
Tom Sykes, a royal journalist and the author of “The Dukes,” spoke to Page Six on Wednesday, Oct. 7. “It is total rubbish,” Sykes said. He said a source close to Harry told him the apology account was invented. Sykes said Harry’s long-held position is that he will not apologize for anything.
Kinsey Schofield, a royal commentator and host of the “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered” podcast, told Page Six the same day that her own sources assured her the story was false. She said she sees no evidence of a change of heart. “Prince Harry and Meghan remain defiant,” she said.
Good With Dad, Still Cut Off From William
Harry has been back in touch with his father. King Charles III, 77, met the family at his Highgrove home in July, weeks before their move, so he could see his grandchildren. That visit was the first in four years to include Meghan and the children.
The brothers are still at odds. A source said previously that the standoff is unchanged, and that William in particular shows no sign of shifting. Harry has not met William since the couple’s return to the U.K., and the brothers are not in contact, Hello! reported.
The couple arrived back in the U.K. on Aug. 26, after six years in California. Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, now go to school in the country.
Foreign paparazzi tried to photograph the children at their new school. The couple rebuked them in public over the attempts. Photographers later caught the two together at the Falkland Arms pub in Great Tew, Oxfordshire, in the Cotswolds. The photographs of them holding hands drew wide coverage, and critics questioned whether the outing had been staged.
All Smiles in Nottingham
On Thursday, Oct. 15, the couple made their first joint public appearance since moving back. They visited youth and community charities in Nottingham, the city where they made their first official outing together in 2017. “It’s great to be back,” Meghan told one person in the crowd. The King’s household regards the couple as private citizens without official status, the BBC reported.
Harry said in a BBC interview in May 2025 that he would welcome a reconciliation. He gave that interview after he lost a court appeal over his security in the U.K. Five years after the Winfrey broadcast, the people closest to Harry insist an apology is not the route he intends.
How the Royal Feud Got So Bad
The couple announced in January 2020 that they were stepping back as senior working royals. They then moved to Montecito, Calif. The Winfrey interview followed in March 2021, the six-part Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan” in late 2022, and Harry’s memoir “Spare” in January 2023.
The book included a claim that William physically attacked Harry during a 2019 argument. It became one of the fastest-selling nonfiction titles on record, and it widened the rift between the brothers.
Meghan told Winfrey that she had suicidal thoughts while she was a working royal, and that she did not receive the help she sought. She also said Kate was the one who made her cry before the couple’s 2018 wedding, not the reverse, as the British press had reported.
Buckingham Palace answered with a brief statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. The palace said the issues raised, particularly those of race, were concerning, and that the family would address them privately. The statement said, “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously.”
Days after the broadcast, Gayle King, co-host of “CBS This Morning,” said on the program that Harry had spoken with both his father and his brother. King said she had been told those conversations were not productive.
