London: The Duke of Sussex is waiting for me when I alight from Waterloo Station and walk along busy streets on a sunny afternoon as people head out for drinks and dinner.
Before I get to the pub and its popular beer garden, however, I have work to do. I slow down so I can ask people what they think about Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, making an imminent return to Britain.
And I find Londoners have as many opinions about the royal family as they have bus routes.
“I think they’re welcome – it would be better for everyone if they reunited as a family,” says Karl, a man in his 30s who is rushing for a train.
“They should stay away,” says a woman in her 50s.
“It’s an irrelevance,” says Benedict, a communications professional. “The royal family is an ancient hangover of a corrupt society.”
Big questions surround the royal couple’s return with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. The children are due to start at a British school as soon as next week, the beginning of the school year, and the family are said to be moving to a private residence just outside London.
The British press is full of speculation about whether the government will assign security to the family; when Meghan will resume her acting career; whether King Charles will welcome them home; and whether Harry can reconcile with his brother, William, the Prince of Wales.
Even those who have a soft spot for Harry – the actual Duke of Sussex, of course – wonder why he is coming back after speaking out against the royal family during his six years in California.
“I don’t mind Harry. I think he’ll be fine,” says Helen McMahon, a doctor who is out for the day with her two young children. “But I think they’ve become pretty unpopular because nobody likes Meghan because they think she’s a gold digger.
“And they’ve tried to monetise everything and televise everything. So, I wonder whether they can just change their minds that easily and return.”
McMahon believes the royal family is now a waste of money, although she liked the late Queen Elizabeth II. Here in central London, it is not hard to find others who feel the same way.
“I think they’re scroungers,” says Martin, a middle-aged salesman.
“I think the media feeds them. They feed the media. They can all eff off. They cost the country too much. I have no interest in them.
“All the royal family should be taken off somewhere. Buckingham Palace can be turned into a nice youth hostel or a nice homeless hostel.”
It is about two months since King Charles disclosed accounts showing the royal family cost taxpayers £132 million ($250 million) last year. The latest polling shows 64 per cent of British voters believe the UK should keep its monarchy, but the cost of the institution is clearly a concern on the streets near Waterloo Station.
David Ashcroft, a shipping industry worker, says Harry and Meghan can do as they wish as long as they pay their own way.
“They’ve let themselves down, I think, by behaving like children,” he says.
“You have to reap what you sow. Harry is estranged from his brother, and I think he’s an embarrassment, really, and he should be ashamed of himself for not having more self-control.”
Ashcroft has not read the prince’s memoir, Spare, but he has seen enough about the book to feel that Harry has only himself to blame for his rift with his family.
“One of the great British characteristics is if you have a problem, you don’t talk about it,” he says.
“People think everything needs to be spoken about these days. It doesn’t. It doesn’t get better when you share it, sometimes.
“So I think he should have kept it all to himself, been a professional about it and then dealt with it himself.”
Who should pay for security for the family when Harry and Meghan arrive on British soil?
“They should,” Ashcroft says. Others say the same here on Baylis Road in the Borough of Lambeth, south of the Thames. I am only a short walk from the street where William Blake, artist and poet, railed against the monarchy two centuries ago.
“I don’t think they should get back their royal contingent of security,” says Max Bateman, an airport worker in his 30s. “They decided to step away from that. If they don’t want to be part of the royal family, then they don’t get the perks of being in the royal family.”
Could Harry and Meghan return to their old royal duties in some way? There is not a lot of sympathy for them on this front.
“I think it’s a one-way decision,” Bateman says. “They stepped away. If you don’t want to be in the limelight, stay out of the limelight.”
Bella Paksi, a university student about to turn 20, also thinks security should be up to the family, not the state.
“They should be on their own. They’ve got enough money,” she says. “There shouldn’t be our tax money going towards that.”
While others believe the monarchy has outlived its usefulness, Paksi says there is still support for the royal family among the young.
“I think that it does bring a net positive, and also it means holding on to what historical roots England does have,” she says.
“So I think that keeping the royal family is a good thing for that reason.”
I walk to the pub knowing, even more surely than I did before, that Harry and Meghan will struggle to find any support from the British public when they return. A YouGov survey last month found 58 per cent had a negative view of Harry; 65 per cent had a negative view of Meghan.
Then I’m stopped by a council street sweeper, working in bright orange overalls, who wants to know why I’ve been asking people so many questions. Prudence has a kind heart. She tells me it would be good for Harry and Meghan to be reconciled with the family.
‘They stepped away. If you don’t want to be in the limelight, stay out of the limelight.’
Max Bateman, an airport worker in his 30s
“The children should be able to see their cousins,” she says. But what about all the things Harry has said about his father, his brother and the rest of the family? “They should give him a second chance.”
And, once I get to the pub, I meet Sion, 30, who is sipping a white wine with a friend in the beer garden.
“I just wish them the best,” she says.
“I actually don’t have any negative feelings about them at all. I think everyone’s a bit mean about them, to be honest. I’ve moved abroad before and come back. I don’t think it’s that deep, is it?”
Unlike others, Sion has no problem with the government arranging security for Harry and his family.
“He didn’t ask to be born into that life where you need security,” she says.
“If I was being harassed by a stalker, I’d hope that the police and whatnot would look after me.
“I kind of feel sorry for anyone who’s famous. I would hate it. So, I think maybe I have a bit more empathy for them.”
Empathy can be hard to find on the streets of London, but at least there’s some in the beer garden of the Duke of Sussex. When Harry and Meghan return, they should drop in for a drink.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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