US television presenter Sunny Hostin has said the warm reception Meghan Markle and Prince Harry received during their visit to Nottingham demonstrates that the couple still have supporters in Britain despite years of criticism.
Speaking on the American talk show The View, Hostin highlighted the women of colour who gathered to welcome Meghan during her first public engagement in the UK alongside Harry.
Hostin, who has previously claimed that Meghan experienced “abject racism” in Britain, said she was pleased to see members of the public embracing the Duchess of Sussex after the negative publicity she has faced since the couple stepped back from royal duties.
“I was really pleased with the reception that they received when they went to Nottingham.
I mean, you had women of colour just hugging Meghan and welcoming her back when she had received so much bad press,” she said.
Hostin described the reception as “a step in the right direction”.
Hostin Predicts UK Return Could Bring Harry Closer to Family
The American presenter also suggested that returning to Britain could allow the Sussexes’ children to develop closer relationships with their relatives and become more familiar with British culture.
She made the comments after Harry expressed his desire to reconcile with his father, King Charles, and his older brother, Prince William, during an interview with GQ magazine.
“A first step is that they’ve moved back to the UK. Now his children and their children will get the opportunity to be closer to family.
They’ll get the opportunity to be closer to the culture. He said that’s something that they wanted,” Hostin said.
She added that Harry’s public statements about reconciliation might be intended to reach his estranged relatives directly.
“I suspect one of the reasons why he is publicly saying that he wants to reconcile is so that they hear it,” she said.
Hostin also expressed hope that the family would resolve its differences, adding that the current state of the world made family relationships particularly important.
Harry Says He Still Wants to Reconcile With William and Charles
In his 42-minute interview with GQ, published on Tuesday, Harry said he had not given up hope of repairing his relationships with his family.
“I want it to work out. Of course I do,” the Duke of Sussex said.
He suggested that some people did not want reconciliation to happen and described restoring family relationships as a key priority amid wider global turmoil.
Harry also acknowledged that he grieved the loss of his relationship with William.
The interview did not include an apology to his family.
His comments came a week after he and Meghan appeared together publicly in Britain for the first time since their return.
Meghan and Harry Receive Cheers During Charity Engagements
During their visit to Nottingham, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were greeted by cheering crowds as they carried out charity engagements in the East Midlands.
Harry was seen repeatedly placing a protective arm around his wife as they met members of the public and stopped for photographs and selfies.
Meghan kissed one well-wisher and hugged several others. When a supporter welcomed her back to Britain, she smiled and replied: “It’s wonderful to be back.”
The engagements were organised by Team Sussex and took place around six weeks after the couple returned to live in Britain.
Their royal-style visits attracted criticism from some observers, who described the engagements as a cynical attempt to resume royal duties indirectly.
The visits also took place after King Charles had described the Sussexes as private citizens.
Despite Hostin’s praise for the reception, YouGov polling cited in the report puts Harry’s favourability rating among the British public at 33 per cent, compared with 22 per cent for Meghan.
Ana Navarro Urges Harry to Address Family Disputes Privately
Another The View co-host, Ana Navarro, said Harry should contact William privately if he genuinely wants to repair their relationship.
Navarro argued that discussing family disagreements publicly had made the situation more difficult and contributed to the breakdown in trust between the brothers.
“I think that a lot of the problem has been exacerbated by the fact that it’s been played out in public,” she said.
“So much of the dirty laundry has been aired out in public. And surely they have relatives in common, friends in common.”
She suggested that a direct conversation with William could be more effective than repeatedly discussing their estrangement in interviews.
“I just think that if he delivered that message privately right now it might go further than continuing to do it publicly because there’s been a breach of trust and there’s been a lot of hurt, I think, on both sides,” Navarro said.
She also criticised the use of interviews, books and documentaries to discuss the family’s private disputes.
“It needs to be dealt with privately, not with interviews and tell-all books and selling documentaries and things like that,” she said.
“At some point he’s going to need to pick up the phone or go see his brother and have it out.”
Whoopi Goldberg and Other Panellists Express Hope for Reconciliation
Whoopi Goldberg, who knows Harry personally, said she hoped the brothers would eventually overcome their differences.
Although she was uncertain whether Harry’s latest interview would help repair their relationship, she believed he wanted to make peace.
“I don’t know that this particular interview will help mend fences. But I do believe he would like to,” Goldberg said.
Fellow panellist Alyssa Farah Griffin suggested that King Charles’s health could be influencing Harry’s desire to reconcile with his family.
“We have limited time with our loved ones on Earth,” she said, suggesting that Harry might be reflecting on the fact that time cannot be recovered once it has passed.
Sara Haines also called for the brothers to resolve their differences, referring to their shared relationship with their late mother, Princess Diana.
“That love of their mother was shared only between those two boys,” Haines said, adding that she hoped they would achieve “a peaceful reconciliation at some point”.
Oprah Interview and Memoir Deepened Royal Family Rift
The estrangement between Harry and William has attracted sustained public attention, particularly since Harry and Meghan’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
During the interview, Meghan alleged that an unnamed member of the Royal Family had raised concerns about the skin colour of her son, Archie, before his birth.
She also disclosed that she had experienced suicidal thoughts while struggling with life within the monarchy.
The couple subsequently discussed their experiences in their 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan.
Harry made further allegations in his 2023 memoir, Spare, in which he described William as his “archnemesis” and alleged that his brother had physically attacked him during a confrontation.
The revelations brought further attention to the brothers’ private disagreements and raised questions about whether their relationship could be repaired.
Harry’s latest comments have renewed discussion about reconciliation, while the Sussexes’ recent public engagements in Britain have prompted contrasting reactions from supporters and critics.
