What ‘Really Damaged’ King Charles and Prince Harry’s Relationship Wasn’t About Them, According to an Expert: ‘Very Below the Belt’
Prince Harry’s stopover in England before the 2023 Invictus Games passed without a visit to his father, King Charles III, or older brother, Prince William. What transpired, or rather didn’t, let the world in on the “state of the relationship” between the Duke of Sussex, King Charles, and the Prince of Wales. An expert says the reason a royal reconciliation is seemingly at a stand-still is what “really damaged” things between Harry and King Charles. Not just Spare, but what’s lacking in their relationship.
Harry, King Charles still don’t talk to each other much
“I think the fact that there isn’t any family reunion really gives us quite an indication as to the state of the relationship,” Katie Nicholl, a royal expert and author, told ET. “Both between Prince Harry and his father and with his brother.”
Harry traveled to Germany for the Invictus Games after making a speech at a charity event in London, England. However, he’s believed not to have seen William or the king.
“I’m told … there haven’t been any conversations [with William] for a long time,” Nicholl said. “There is some communication with Charles, but very little.”
“I understand from sources close to Charles that he wants to have a relationship with his son,” the New Royals author continued. “They do speak, but it’s very occasional. But I think the fact that they are not seeing each other on this trip … I think it’s a clear indication that the relationship is certainly strained between father and son.”
The king considered ‘Spare’ comments about Queen Camilla a ‘very below the belt’ move from Harry
Spare, Harry’s memoir released in January 2023, is part of why the father and son don’t talk much, Nicholl continued. Not the searing passages about William, cringe-worthy Kate Middleton anecdotes, or picture of King Charles as a father. Instead, it’s the things Harry said about his stepmother, Queen Camilla.
“There has been so much criticism leveled at the royal family, really personal criticism leveled at Camilla, the queen in his autobiography,” Nicholl said. “I think really that was very below the belt as far as the king was concerned. I think that has really damaged Harry’s relationship with Charles.”
As for what Harry said about Camilla in Spare, there was quite a bit. The now-39-year-old remembered Camilla not showing a genuine interest in him when they first met. He also recalled begging King Charles not to marry Camilla in 2005.
Perhaps most notably, Harry called Queen Camilla “dangerous,” claiming she leaked stories to the press to improve her own image. Occasional smaller digs, such as Harry’s disdain when Camilla turned his former bedroom into a dressing room, were also included.
While King Charles considered Harry’s remarks about Camilla as “below the belt,” the queen reportedly reacted with an eye roll.
Trust remains a big issue between King Charles and Prince Harry, thwarting any ‘reconciliation’ talk
Nearly four years after Harry and Meghan Markle left royal life, there’s one thing keeping the the father and son apart. Not the literal distance between them, although that certainly could be part of it, but the “matter of trust.”
“Charles, I think, is more keen for some sort of reconciliation,” the expert said. “He’d like to have a sit-down and talk with his son. But there is a genuine concern on the king’s part that anything he says could then be sort of retold via Harry to a news media outlet. Because that’s what’s happened in the past. I think there is a real trust issue at stake here.”
