King Charles may never be reunited with his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet because of Prince Harry’s security fears, royal experts have claimed.
In an ITV documentary which aired last week, Harry said he will not let Meghan return to the UK because of fears a ‘lone actor’ will attack them with a knife or acid.
This means Charles could become ‘more and more remote’ from the Sussex children, according to royal experts who spoke to the Mail on Sunday.
The last time he saw Archie and Lilibet was at Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Harry has returned to the UK on several occasions since this moment but only alone.
Talking about his safety and his family’s he told ITV: ‘All it takes is for one lone actor who reads this stuff to act on what they’ve read. And whether it’s a knife or acid, these are things that are genuine concerns for me. It’s one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country.’
He said his fight with the tabloid press was ‘a central piece’ to the breakdown of his relationship with his family.
Harry also said the recent cancer diagnosis of both Charles and Kate was a separate issue.
Royal experts have said that this breakdown in relationship will also impact the relationship Charles has with his grandchildren in California.
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said: ‘It would be great to think that at some point soon the King would get to visit the grandchildren that he has seen very little of, but he is 75 and still not in the best of health.
‘A visit to America is unlikely to be a high priority now, given the other demands on his time.
‘It’s an incredibly sad situation that few would have predicted even five years ago.’
Mr Little added: ‘You have to ask yourself: is the UK any less dangerous than the US, with gun crime so prevalent over there?’
Meanwhile royal author Margaret Holder added: ‘It is very difficult for the monarch to travel as a private person. All kinds of diplomacy would have to be involved to get the King into California to see the children.
‘So if the children can’t come here and the King can’t go there, you are looking at a situation where you’ve got a grandfather, who is undergoing cancer treatment, becoming more and more remote.
‘The whole thing is a mess King Charles is forced to be a distant grandfather that the grandchildren never see.’
Harry lost his High Court challenge in February to overturn the ruling over his police protection as a non-working royal which he intends to appeal.
He is also expected to travel alone to the Invictus Games held in Birmingham in 2027.
Harry launched the games in 2014 as a way to ‘demonstrate the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and demonstrate life beyond disability’ for wounded and injured military personnel.
They’ve been held in various cities across the world over the last 13 years – with Harry appearing at each event – but now are returning to the UK for the first time when they next take place in 2027.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.