King Charles must do one thing to avoid royal crisis over Prince Harry's Christmas invite

King Charles should "wait for a year" before inviting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle back to the UK, a royal expert has claimed.

They said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "have remorselessly trashed the Royal Family for years" and have only just now started changing strategy because their "popularity in the US has been affected" by it.

The royal pair have been making headlines recently over their fresh approach to dealing with the Royal Family.

Last week, reports suggested the Duke of Sussex will be putting in a birthday phone call to his father, King Charles, on his 75th birthday on Tuesday and "well-placed" sources informed the media that he's ready to extend an olive branch and start mending their rift.

During the call, Harry and Meghan reportedly spoke to the monarch, who also saw a video from Archie and Lilibet wishing him a happy birthday.

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Buckingham Palace declined to comment at first but later suggested a call did in fact take place and another phone call is scheduled for this week.

This weekend, "friends of the Sussexes" claimed to the Sunday Times that the pair want to "change the state of play" and would "readily accept" a Christmas invitation to Sandringham.

But royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams suggested that Harry and Meghan need to "show some loyalty to the institution" first and that a "trial period" might well benefit all those involved.

He told Express.co.uk: "The King has always been clear that the door is open to Harry and Meghan. At present there is something of a circus about royal events.

"Given the Sussexes behaviour until relatively recently, might it not be wise to wait a year before inviting them? Whatever the good intentions after the telephone call with Harry on Charles’s birthday might be, the Sussexes have remorselessly trashed the royal family for years.

"They now see their popularity affected in the United States as a result of it. If they want to be accepted back they should surely, over the coming months, show some loyalty to the institution."

On Monday, insiders claimed that Prince William and Princess Kate will not attend Sandringham at Christmas if Harry and Meghan go.

The brothers have been estranged for a while now after Harry's bombshells about the Royal Family among others in his memoir, Spare, as well as his and Meghan's docuseries on Netflix "Harry & Meghan".

Commenting on the pair's possible invitation to Sandringham for Christmas this year, the expert commented that there is still a deep rift in the Firm that needs to be fixed first and that would require a lot of trust.

Fitzwilliams said: "The King as monarch is a symbol of national unity and obviously, at Christmas, it is a time for family unity. With this, must also come trust and there is currently a deep rift in the royal family.

"Without doubt, Charles would appreciate the chance to see his grandchildren.

"William and Catherine also need to be convinced that, if Harry and Meghan do want to spend special occasions with the royal family, they won’t leak details to their friends or subsequently launch attacks to sell books or boost ratings.

"A trial period might well benefit all those involved!"