Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could take advantage of Prince William’s plans to modernise the British monarchy when he becomes King, a royal historian believes

Prince William must be careful with his vision for the future of the Royal Family, an expert has warned.

The Prince of Wales recently spoke candidly about his role in developing a modern monarchy, saying he was doing royal “with a smaller r”. But while his focus on empathetic leadership and helping people will be met with praise by many, the change-up is a risk, says royal historian and expert Dr Tessa Dunlop.

She issued a warning to the prince and said the British monarchy “needs to be careful” as the general public still enjoys the glitz and glamour of traditional royalty. The historian believes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose as a threat, as the former working royals are “waiting in the wings” to “upstage” the Firm.

Speaking about King Charles’ low-key appearance at the premiere of the Hollywood blockbuster film Gladiators II last week, which he attended alone, Tessa told the Mirror she “longed for the King to wear an ermine gown, or pop a crown on his head”, but instead he remained “dutiful”. She said: “The royal machine has clearly decided that they can compensate for a depleted public presence with relentless philanthropy on ITV.

“This is definitely William’s happy space – Earthshot speeches and homeless documentaries are his version of royalty with a small ‘r’. But royalty needs to be careful. The public will tolerate a bit of charitable hectoring but only if accompanied with a large dollop of fairytale glamour.” And with the potential for a glitzy and glamour vacuum to form, there are two people Tessa thinks could easily fill it.

“The Royal Family might think they are above such glitzy gimmicks. That would be a mistake. After all, waiting in the wings are ex-royals the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” she said. “Instinctively glamourous with bundles of razzmatazz, the Californian couple have an effortless knack for combining showbiz-gloss and public do-gooding.

“Already estranged from the House of Windsor, Trump returning to the White House gives them another excuse to regroup, with a new house in Portugal the perfect launch pad for a European offensive. William beware! It would never do for the royal brand to be upstaged.”

During William’s trip to South Africa earlier this month, he hinted how things could change once he ascends the throne. He said: “I can only describe what I’m trying to do, and that’s I’m trying to do it differently and I’m trying to do it for my generation. And to give you more an understanding around it, I’m doing it with maybe a smaller r in the royal, if you like, that’s maybe a better way of saying it.”

William said his approached focused on “impact philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people”. Speaking to South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, he said: “I’m also going to throw empathy in there as well, because I really care about what I do. It helps impact people’s lives… and I think we could do with some more empathetic leadership around the world.”