Prince Harry Has a ‘Long Way’ to Go to Reconcile With King Charles and Prince William, Commentator Says: ‘They’re Not Going to Just Completely Forget’
Prince Harry has a long and difficult path ahead on the road to reconciling with King Charles III and Prince William. A commentator thinks the Duke of Sussex will need “perseverance” to reconcile with his father and brother. After so much “open warfare,” the situation’s not “going to be healed overnight.”
Charles and William aren’t likely to quickly go from ‘open warfare’ to trusting Harry
In the Feb. 20, 2024, episode of The Royal Report podcast, co-host Jack Royston discussed the possibility that Harry has a long way to go before patching things up with his father, the king, and brother, the Prince of Wales.
“Charles and William, I’m sure, will view Harry as having persistently betrayed them on multiple occasions over several years,” Royston said. “Including during times of grief, such as when Prince Philip died or when the queen [Elizabeth II] died.”
“So obviously, they’re not going to just completely forget all of that straight away and go from open warfare one minute to innate implicit trust the next,” he added. “But none of that means that Harry’s olive branch is an error or a mistake.”
The so-called “olive branch” came during Harry and Meghan Markle’s three-day trip to Canada to mark the one-year countdown to the 2025 Invictus Games. Harry told Good Morning America he loves his family. He also remarked that on the heels of visiting King Charles, his father’s cancer diagnosis has the potential to bring the family together.
Previously, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sent well wishes to both King Charles and William’s wife, Kate Middleton, who is recuperating after undergoing abdominal surgery on Jan. 16, 2024.
Harry and William have an especially ‘long way back to reconciling’
The biggest challenge for Harry regarding reconciling seems to lie with William. The brothers have been estranged for years and relations are said to still be very strained.
Trust, the podcast host said, remains a major issue between them. “Particularly Prince William, I think it’s going take years before he would ever trust Harry again.”
“They obviously had a conversation after Prince Philip’s funeral, where they spoke privately. It wound up in Harry’s book,” Royston said in reference to Harry’s 2023 Spare memoir.
“Harry kind of divulged what William and Charles had shared in the immediate aftermath of Prince Philip’s funeral. So, you know, after something like that has happened, it’s going to be a long way back to reconciling again.”
The April 2021 conversation involved several bombshells in Spare. One involved William swearing on Princess Diana’s life. Another had the now-King Charles pleading with his sons not to make his “final years a misery.”
Harry needs ‘persistence’ to make a reconciliation with Charles and William happen
The royal commentator continued, saying what Harry needs to be successful in reconciling with his father and brother is determination.
“I think this is not a situation that’s going to be healed overnight. And is one that is going to require persistence over a long period of time,” Royston said.
“I think he’s going to have to pursue this path of reconciliation, maybe even for years before the family are even willing to entertain the idea of actually trusting him again and opening up and kind of telling secrets and things like that.”
Ultimately, William and the king “need to see with their own eyes that the things they tell him do not end up on Netflix or in a book or on a podcast.”
A long road ahead, indeed.
