Ever since the Princess of Wales made the emotional announcement that she had been diagnosed with cancer, experts have been speculating whether this challenging time for the royals could offer a moment of reconciliation for Prince Harry and Prince William’s strained relationship.

With King Charles also being treated for cancer, and off-duty for the time being, there have also been calls from some insiders for Harry to return temporarily to royal duties to help bear the load of official engagements as the monarchy finds itself short-handed.

It was reported that Harry and Meghan – who are said to have learned of the Kate’s condition a short time before her televised announcement – “reached out” privately to William and Kate once they heard the difficult news.

Now one expert has claimed there is a possibility the Sussexes “may spring surprises” on the Waleses in an attempt to move towards with healing wounds.

William and Kate reportedly extended an olive branch to Harry and Meghan ( 
Image:
Daily Mirror)

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams explained to The Sun that in his view, the best route for all parties to find peace after years of tension would be to do so behind closed doors.

“The best way of resolving the rift, if it is to be resolved, is to do it privately,” he said. “With Catherine and the King’s illness – that is an enormous game changer even when there are deep family rifts.

“The two very senior members of the Royal Family, are very, are seriously ill, and you can’t really predict what’s going to happen. So, as I say, the Sussexes do spring surprises. This has happened before, and you never know what might happen in the coming weeks or months.”

When promoting his memoir Spare, Harry admitted that he wanted to get his “brother back” but that the ball “was in their court”. However, this might have changed given the serious health challenges facing the royals, and the Duke of Sussex is next due back in the UK to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Invictus Games in May.

Fitzwilliams noted that “We don’t know but things can happen that you don’t expect? And you look at the time scale between now and the Invictus games – It’s still quite the time.”

Royal author Tom Quinn has claimed that for this visit, William and Kate offered an “olive branch” and asked the Sussexes to bring their two children Archie and Lilibet with them.

When Meghan and Harry left life in the UK behind in 2020 and moved across the Atlantic to pursue financial independence, they initially hoped to still serve the crown in some, part-time capacity, however, this suggestion was ruled inappropriate and a full break with the monarchy was made.

Since then they have released a record-breaking six-part documentary series for Netflix about their love story and the motivations behind their royal exit, and Harry detailed the breakdown of his relationship with his family in his bestselling memoir Spare.