A royal historian says it would have been one of Queen Elizabeth's 'dearest wishes' for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to reconcile with the royal family

• Royal historian Robert Hardman spoke to People about Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth's relationship.
• Hardman told People the Queen would have wanted him to reconcile with the royal family.

In the wake of the Queen's death, the royal historian Robert Hardman spoke to People about the late monarch's relationship with Prince Harry, saying she "adored Harry right to the end, and Harry adored her."

Hardman, who wrote "Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II," went on to tell the outlet he thinks the monarch would have wanted Harry and Meghan Markle to reconcile with the royal family.

"I think she was one of the conduits between Windsor and California, and it would have been one of her dearest wishes that [the family] patch things up," he told People.

Harry and Meghan's relationship with the royal family has been strained since they stepped back as senior royals in January 2020, and things became even more tense after their March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In the interview, they said members of the royal family made racist remarks about Archie, disregarded Meghan's mental health and well-being, Kate Middleton made Meghan cry during the week of her wedding, and the king cut the couple off financially following their step back.

Despite the tension between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the royal family, Prince Harry made an effort to highlight he remained close with his grandmother in the years leading up to her death.

After his interview with Winfrey, Harry specified that his grandparents were not the royals to make racist comments about Archie, and he and Meghan shared that they spoke to the Queen on FaceTime. They also named their daughter Lilibet, which was the Queen's family nickname.

And although things between the Sussexes and the royals had remained tense, there have been signs that the Queen's "dearest wish" may come to pass in the days since she died.

Two days after the Queen died, the new Prince of Wales invited Meghan and Harry to a walkabout with him and Kate Middleton, reuniting the "fab four" for the first time in years.

King Charles III also sent love to the couple in his first address as monarch, and he made an exception for Harry to wear his military regalia at a vigil for the Queen although he is no longer a working royal.