Meghan Markle Wants Prince Harry to ‘Let Go’ of Lawsuits and ‘Be Free’

Meghan Markle hopes for Prince Harry to “let go” of the legal battles and focus on their own lives—free from the royal drama that has become a significant part of their day-to-day.

Harry, 39, has been involved in several legal battles in recent years, with no issue more critical to him than security protection for their family of four. Ever since he was stripped of his Metropolitan Police bodyguards in 2020, Harry has been struggling to reinstate police protection. He lost his bid to restore his taxpayer-funded security earlier this year but has plans to appeal.

Markle, however, “wishes he could let go of these lawsuits, be happy, and live in the moment,” a former employee of their Archewell Foundation told PEOPLE while mentioning she still “supports Harry 100 percent.”

“She wants him to be free of all of this, but she also knows that because of everything he’s been through and his love for [her and their children], he can’t. She wants him to live in a world where he is not burdened by this,” says the former staffer.

Multiple well-placed insiders in the Duke of Sussex’s circle told the outlet that Harry believes his father, King Charles III, has the power to reinstate his security. Buckingham Palace did not comment on security provisions, but a palace source said the notion that Harry’s security is in Charles’s hands is “wholly incorrect.”

Constitutionally, the monarch holds no governmental authority in the U.K., and the responsibility for granting police protection rests with the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), which functions under the U.K. government. Harry, however, whose proposal to personally fund police protection was denied in court, believes that as King, his father could step in to secure this protection.

His desperate pleas for his father to intervene have been longstanding, as Prince Harry was once confident that security would remain intact during his transition out of his royal position, especially after the late Queen deemed the couple’s “effective security” of the utmost importance.

“The Queen made it clear that effective security was necessary due to the threats against them, but somewhere along the line there was interference,” a royal insider alleged.

The security issue has created a significant rift between Harry and Charles, leading to a communication breakdown. A friend of Harry’s claimed that the King no longer takes his son’s calls or answers his letters. “He gets ‘unavailable right now,’” the friend said. “His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.”

Litigations on their own have taken their toll, but the matter of security adds another layer to Harry’s persistence in keeping the battle going. But at the end of the day, a friend of Harry’s said it’s “swords down” if the security issue could be resolved one way or another, as nothing “would give [Harry] more happiness than being able to rekindle his bond with his father.”