'Prince Harry must be welcomed back to royal fold after Meghan rubbed salt in wounds'

Troubled Prince Harry must be welcomed back into the royal family to help heal emotional wounds, a columnist has argued today.

But Sarah Vine, a veteran newspaper columnist, claims Meghan Markle has "re-opened or even rubbed salt" in these wounds, trauma said to continue to linger following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Ms Vine has given her opinion on talk the Duke of Sussex, 40, will make a dramatic return to The Firm some five years after he and Meghan Markle quit life in the US for opportunities in California.

Sharing her opinion, Ms Vine wrote: "These are complex, deep-seated emotional wounds that may well take a lifetime to heal, if they ever will. That's why, fundamentally, taking steps to welcome the wayward duke back into the family is the right thing. When someone is in as much pain as Harry clearly is, they lash out at anyone within reach, especially those tied to them by blood.

"But if you can grab them and hold them to your heart, show them the love and understanding they need, soothe their hurt with the balm of forgiveness, you can perhaps help them begin to move forwards."

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In her column forDaily Mail, the expert acknowledges Prince William is likely to have experienced similar grief following the family tragedy, which happened 28 years ago next month. However, she argues - in her opinion - William has had the "strength and stay" of the Princess of Wales in recent years, while Meghan "has had the opposite effect" on Harry.

Ms Vine continued: "Instead of helping him heal his emotional wounds, she seems to have re-opened them - or even rubbed salt in them, some might say.

"Instead of encouraging him to shape his own identity within the Royal Family, she has helped him turn his back on it. Which might have been fine if together they had embarked on something truly life-affirming. But they didn't.

"They've walked away, but they keep looking over their shoulders. They are obsessed with the very thing they supposedly hate, and that's never a good frame of mind to be in."

The damning opinion piece comes after another royal expert yesterday also claimed Prince William and Prince Harry should end their rift. Andrew Norman Wilson, though, argued a failure to do so soon would put lead to great tensions when William, Prince of Wales, becomes king.

"When Charles vacates the stage, as one day he must, and William is anointed, a middle-aged brother in exile, on non-speakers with the sovereign but with a potential audience of billions, could do incalculable damage," Mr Wilson wrote.

"It would be miles better [than Harry writing another book, for instance], then, that the Sussexes be brought in from the cold. Both sides should be seeking, not only diplomatic and political help, but personal counsel."