Prince Harry’s bond with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie faces new questions

Prince Harry's relationship with his royal cousins is facing fresh attention after Princess Beatrice was seen having lunch with broadcaster Piers Morgan, one of Meghan Markle's biggest critics.

The photos have led to new claims that Prince Harry has grown apart from Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

The reports come after Prince Harry visited the UK earlier this month. Meghan Markle later joined him with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, during which they were also privately hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House.

Around the same time, photos showed Princess Beatrice meeting Morgan.

One royal observer claimed the lunch would likely upset Prince Harry and Meghan because of Morgan's long history of criticising them. The source said many people see the meeting as a sign that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are no longer close to the Sussexes.

"Photographs of Princess Beatrice with Piers Morgan were always likely to generate intense interest, given Morgan's long-running public criticism of Prince Harry and Meghan. It's being interpreted as a clear sign neither Beatrice nor her sister, Princess Eugenie, cares about the Sussexes' feelings," the insider told Radar Online.

The source continued, "People are saying it, in fact, signifies Harry and Meghan have been frozen out of his cousins' lives as there is no way one of them would dine with Piers if they cared about them or were still in touch with them."

For those unversed, Morgan has repeatedly criticised Prince Harry and Meghan in newspaper columns, on television and on social media.

After Meghan's 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Morgan said he did not believe her claims about her mental health. His comments led to a heated on-air argument on Good Morning Britain, after which he left the show.

He has also accused Prince Harry and Meghan of damaging the royal family, using their royal titles for business deals and trying to act like a "rival royal family" during overseas visits.

Prince Harry has pushed back against Morgan previously, accusing the reporter of carrying out a long campaign of personal attacks against him and Meghan. He also linked the broadcaster's criticism to his legal action over phone hacking involving Mirror Group Newspapers.

Morgan has denied wrongdoing and continues to criticise Prince Harry and Meghan publicly.