The British royal family is still officially in mourning, but reports have emerged that Prince Charles is swiftly taking on the mantle as head of the family and it’s two problem children: Prince Andrew and Prince Harry.

The so-called curse of the spare is well-known, with the second-in-line to the throne generally struggling with being so close to the crown, but ultimately deemed second best. However, in order to secure the future of the monarchy for himself, Prince William and eventually Prince George, Charles has the unfortunate task of trying to either rehabilitate his brother and son or figure out how to excise them from the monarchy completely.

It’s not going to be an easy task.

Reports have already emerged that Prince Charles and Prince William will meet with the Queen to determine what the royal family will look like for the next two generations. They will determine who will be a full-time working royal and how the family will interact and present itself to the public.

In years past, Prince Harry would likely have been part of those discussions and a full-time working member of the royal family along with his wife, but that’s now in the past. Harry and his wife decided to leave behind the palaces, jewels and international tours for the shiny but often fickle lights of Hollywood in 2020 with Megxit.

It will be interesting to see how the future Meghan has planned for her and her prince pans out. Though they’ve negotiated many high-profile deals, questions remain over whether they can fulfill the high expectations and gain enough viewers in order to receive their reportedly multi-million-dollar paychecks, as neither has any experience as producers or content creators, with the exception of Meghan’s “The Tig” blog.

During the service, and most especially afterwards, it seemed like Prince Harry was keenly interested in reconnecting with his family members after he and his wife publicly called them racists in a television interview on Oprah. It’s unclear how much the family reciprocated, though Prince William and Prince Harry were talking in their walk back to Windsor Castle. Whether they were talking about the interview or the weather that day is anyone’s guess, though some lipreaders have tried.

But it wouldn’t be surprising if coming back for the pomp and circumstance of the funeral caused Prince Harry to question leaving the monarchy. There were rumors that Prince Charles and Prince Harry were going to do a walk-about and view the flowers left in memorial to Prince Philip, though the photo-op never came about.

If it does, its likely an attempt to hopefully reintegrate Prince Harry back into the royal fold in the (high) likelihood that Harry and Meghan divorce sometime within the next couple of years and prodigal son returns wanting to officially rejoin the family. 

But that’ll only work as long as there are no more Oprah interviews in the offing.

It’s also emerged that after not being able to get in touch with his father, Prince Harry sent him a deeply emotional letter explaining Megxit, the Oprah interview and other issues weighing heavily on the Duke.

Apparently, it has been a deep surprise to Harry that family relationships can be severely strained after a tell-all interview with Oprah. Who knew? 

Though there have been several articles (like this one, or this one, or that one) claiming that the Princes have already reconciled, it’s highly unlikely.

The explosive interview with Oprah has put the monarchy on the defensive and challenged its position in the U.K. at an extremely sensitive and unstable time as the Queen enters her twilight years. It’s unlikely that all of that has been mended with talks at the funeral, especially as Meghan remains essentially a loose cannon who is eager to reach out to Gayle King, Oprah’s friend and host of “CBS This Morning,” to share about the latest private calls between family members.

In order to secure the future for his first-born son and grandson, Charles will have to make difficult decisions, especially when it comes to his son, to make sure the institution doesn’t fall into disrepute and lead to abolishment. This goes for his younger brother, The Duke of York, as well.

Though Harry may have a future with the monarchy after his inevitable divorce, though his popularity has taken a severe hit this year, Prince Andrew likely does not, unless he agrees to full participation with the FBI investigation into the activities of his friend and sex-trafficker, the late Jeffery Epstein. 

The Duke of York attempted to begin his reentry back into royal life and the good graces of the British public by making statements about his father with other family members. While it was understandable that Andrew wants to share memories about his father, the ghosts of his train-wreck interview with BBC in 2019 continue to linger and won’t go away while public questions remain. 

The next five years will be critical for the royal family. Over the last couple of years, two out of the four abdications that have occurred in monarchies in Europe and Japan were done under the shadow of scandal. In order to secure the future of the monarchy, and by extension his family, tough decisions will made, which could result in the family continuing to distance itself from Meghan and Harry’s exploits and Prince Andrew’s shady friendships.

Hopefully, Prince Charles is up to the challenge.