PRINCE Harry and King Charles have had a tense relationship over the past few years, and a reconciliation is likely to be “extremely difficult”, according to a royal biographer.
Robert Hardman claimed that there are key “trust issues” that need to be resolved before the apparent frosty relationship can thaw.
The royal expert claimed that Harry’s “attitude towards the monarchy might be mellowing” – and he offered an olive branch with the paperback release of his bombshell Spare memoir.
The new version, which was available last month, didn’t have any new damning material against his family – and a source close to the Sussexes says reports they are writing new memoirs are “void of truth.”
However, Robert claimed: “Within the Royal Family, however, the feeling would persist that, as long as Prince Harry continued to be a very busy litigant, a rapprochement would be extremely difficult.
“’Even then,’ points out an aide, ‘you still have the trust issue to be resolved.
“‘And then, having predicated this whole case on the fact that Britain is insecure, would Harry bring the children over anyway? That is the tragedy of all this. It’s a mess – but it is not one of our making.’”
In his new book Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, which was adapted on the Mail, Robert said there are three “pragmatic” reasons why there is “apparent remoteness” between Harry and Charles.
The first reason is money, according to the biographer.
Harry wrote in Spare: “I recognised the absurdity, a man in his mid-30s being cut off by my father.
“But Pa wasn’t merely my father. He was my boss, my banker, my comptroller, keeper of the purse strings throughout my adult life.”
Harry later told Mail columnist Bryony Gordon: “What I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.”
Prince Harry is thought to have visited the UK four times in 2024 and only seen King Charles once back in February for 30 minutes following his cancer diagnosis – and hasn’t connected with Prince William on any visit, even during a funeral they both attended in August.
Robert claims the second reason of Harry and Charles having distance, is that King Charles doesn’t want to “jeopardise” his relationship with Prince William if he had “bilateral discussions” with Prince Harry.
The biographer pointed out that Prince William has been focused this year on supporting Princess Kate with her chemotherapy treatment.
Within the Royal Family, however, the feeling would persist that, as long as Prince Harry continued to be a very busy litigant, a rapprochement would be extremely difficult
Robert Hardman
He claimed that reconciliation talks would have to include the Prince of Wales but “now was not the time.”
Robert also pointed out there was tension between Prince Harry and King Charles’ staff members, who he had been critical of in his memoir.
While the Sussexes claim they were given little help by palace staff, one former employee claimed: “We seconded people from Clarence House, very expert people, to help them, but the Duchess wouldn’t trust them. Those two were offered considerable resource, and then later said that they had been offered no help. And that was completely wrong.”
The third reason that Harry and Charles have a divide is “a constitutional point”, according to Robert.
The Duke of Sussex is currently in the middle of a number of legal cases, including fighting the government over a decision to downgrade his security following Megxit in 2020.
Meghan, 43, is said to be reluctant to fly over to the UK amid the security woes.
The situation is said to be “problematic” for King Charles, as his son is suing his ministers in his court.
This comes as Prince Harry has reportedly not been invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family.
The Duke of Sussex last spent the festive period with his family six years ago, and has only done two with wife Meghan Markle.
Typically the royal family flock to Sandringham for the Christmas period and attend church together on Christmas day.
Prince Harry and Meghan have spent a total of two Christmases together with the extended royal family for the traditional celebrations.
The first was in 2017 when they were an engaged couple, and the second was in 2018 following their royal wedding.
They spent Christmas privately in 2019 on Vancouver Island, just before they announced they were stepping down as senior royals in 2020.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly been extended an invite to spend Christmas with Harry’s uncle Charles Spencer at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.
However, they would be missing out on seeing their extended family.
The first hints of friction reportedly came after William was introduced to Meghan when she was staying at Kensington Palace.
Once she’d returned home to Canada, William and Harry sat down for a brother-to-brother chat.
He knew Harry was already head-over-heels for her but it has been claimed he advised him to take it slowly.
The younger prince reportedly didn’t take too kindly to the advice, with one royal source saying he “went mental”.
Then in June 2019 Harry and Meghan officially split off from the charity they shared with William and Kate.
The Royal Foundation will be divided between the Sussexes and Cambridges as the couples focus on their own separate charitable endeavours.
Prince William and Prince Harry first established the Royal Foundation in 2009 before Kate joined two years later shortly after their engagement was announced.
The trio would often appear together at events and the Foundation had huge successes with projects like the Invictus Games for injured veterans and the mental health Heads Together campaign.
The Royal Foundation said the decision was made following the conclusion of a review into its structure – but added both couples will continue to work together in the future.
Harry and Meg were living in close proximity to Kate and Wills within the Kensington Palace estate, but they switched to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor before baby Archie was born.
The move further increased rumours of a fallout.
Harry also hinted in his ITV documentary “Harry and Meghan, An African Journey” that he and his brother had grown apart.
In 2021, Harry and Meghan give their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey where Harry accused his dad of cutting him off financially.
Harry then jetted back to UK to join William in unveiling a statue to their mother Princess Diana in the grounds of Kensington Palace. But sources claimed William didn’t want to attend the memorial amid their ongoing rift.
In 2022, just before their grandmother the Queen died, sources claimed Kate acts as a “peacemaker” between the brothers.
Harry claimed his brother “knocked him to the floor” during an argument about Meghan, in his memoir.
In Spare, Harry said William branded Meghan “rude” and “difficult” during a row.
Harry alleged William “grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and … knocked me to the floor”.
He said he was left with a visible injury to his back following the argument in 2019 at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, where he was living at the time.
In January this year, Harry flew in to be with Charles after the monarch’s shock cancer diagnosis.
Harry flew back to the US the following day – without seeing Wills.
In May he visited the UK for a three-day visit without seeing King Charles or Prince William.
