New Year, Same Talking Points: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry 'Need to Find Something New to Say' in 2024

As 2024 kicks off, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry should probably "find something new to say" regarding the British royal family.

"Their problem this year is to come out of another box to find something new to say. We've heard all the criticism, relentlessly, [and] repetitively, of their own family," veteran royal commentator Michael Cole told an outlet.

"It is a great tragedy that the King never sees his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. When the Queen [Elizabeth II] was alive and there were thoughts of Prince Harry leaving Frogmore cottage in Windsor, he said to his father, 'But don't you want to see your grandchildren,'" Cole added. "I'm sure that's a great pain to him because every time you see the King with his family, it's very obvious he has a tactile approach. He shows the affection to his family that perhaps as a child he didn't receive himself."

There were rampant rumors that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were set to visit the royals this past Christmas with Archie and Lilibet Diana, but this was not to be. But the non-Sussex presence during the holiday season only served to highlight the dysfunction between the two families.

"I think it's worth remembering we just had Christmas, which is a time for families. I'm afraid the Sussexes didn't get that memo. And what do we have? We have a situation where Megan is hardly on speaking terms with any member of her family apart from her mother and one niece. And Harry is not on speaking terms with any member of the royal family apart from Prince Andrew's daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie," the royal journalist observed.

The Crown is set to tackle 2024 much in the same way it approaches any new year: "business as usual."

As for what to expect this year from Their Majesties, Cole shared: "It's going to be a busy year for the King and Queen. Towards the end of the year, in October, there's the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in the South Pacific, and the King and Queen will combine that with visits to Australia and New Zealand. I think there should be a visit to Canada during this year because these overseas realms need to see their monarch from time to time."

Cole then highlighted how the monarch's visits to Commonwealth realms will provide a chance to see just how well the Crown is faring in the new-ish reign. "It'll also be a time to test the popularity of the monarchy in Australia. Recent polls showed that 56 percent of Australians were in favor of the monarchy," he concluded.

GBN interviewed Cole.