Publicly, Prince Harry may be having the time of his life in the United Kingdom right now as he attends the tenth anniversary of his beloved Invictus Games. But behind the scenes, it’s not all good in his old ‘hood.
As we’ve been reporting, Meghan Markle‘s husband has not gotten an audience with his father King Charles III or his brother Prince William while he’s been across the pond. The family rift runs deep, and their estrangement is so substantial hat Harry is all by himself for Invictus events despite being just a hop, skip, and a jump away from dad, big bro, and many other relatives. Oof.
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What makes it even worse is Harry had been “hoping” to see both Charles and Wills while in London. And the fact that there’s been no movement on that front is weighing heavily on him. On Wednesday afternoon, ET spoke to royal expert Katie Nicholl about that, and she said this about the Duke of Sussex’s tempered England return:
“He hasn’t got many other plans. He was, of course, hoping to see his family. Possibly that’s why the trip was three days… but as we now know, there will be no family meetings.”
Ouch!
He made extra time in his itinerary just to see his fam, and they shut him down? Devastating! Nicholl lamented how Harry’s event had a far different, more family-oriented energy ten years ago when it first started:
“When you look at the inaugural Invictus Games back in 2014… he had support from his father and from Prince William. You could see that wonderful closeness between Charles and his sons, and you could see how happy Harry was to have the support of his older brother.”
But this year, despite the iconic event’s tenth anniversary celebration, Harry’s return “felt a little flat” to the royal insider:
“When you consider that this is the tenth anniversary, this felt a little flat, I think it’s fair to say. He certainly cut a pretty lonely figure… He looked very much an outsider over here in Britain.”
Double ouch!!
The King is at the center of things, as far as Nicholl is concerned. See, it hurts even more that Harry and Charles were within “spitting distance” from each other at separate events this week, as the royal expert noted. And yet the king still didn’t make the time to see his son, something that would have taken much less effort on his part:
“I think certainly the fact that time hasn’t been made over these three days for father and son to have some sort of meeting — when you consider their last meeting was just about 30 or 40 minutes when Harry flew all the way from California to see his father — certainly fuels that narrative of a rift.”
OMG, she’s right? Harry came 99% of the way, the least Charles could have done was meet him that measly one percent.
But there may be hope for the future?!?! Nicholl claimed to ET sources are still optimistic about the king and his second son figuring out a path to reconciliation. Apparently there are still motivating factors for His Majesty. That includes the monarch supposedly very badly wanting to see his grandchildren — Harry and Meghan’s kids Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 2 — in the near future:
“The king is very, very keen to get his relationship with his son back on track. He very much wants to be close to his son again and to see more of his grandchildren, who he’s barely seen since they were born.”
That’s a nice thought, of course. But actions speak louder than words! And the fact the king has decidedly not acted on the opportunity to easily see Harry during this Invictus turn says it all. Heck, he could have just carved out 10 minutes and had the Duke of Sussex come to him! Nicholl acknowledged that insiders are actually very surprised by the cold shoulder:
“There is a sense of surprise that he hasn’t made time to see his son.”
But as Nicholl notes, the “fundamental issue” remains obvious: there has been a “breakdown of trust” between the Spare author and the royal family. Uh, yeah. Ya think?! The royal soothsayer explained:
“Clearly, there are still some pretty major trust issues and concerns on Charles’ part that any private meetings or conversations that he has with his son may not stay private for long. I think Harry’s going to have to work really quite hard to repair some of that trust before he’s going to get a sort of privileged audience with his father.”
As far as Harry is concerned, Nicholl explained, it’s less about PR and image and all of that nonsense. It’s about the loss of his family For him the rift has morphed into feelings of “disappointment” and “genuine sadness.” Oof. She divulged:
“There is just a feeling of disappointment, certainly, on Harry’s part, and genuine sadness that he hasn’t got to see his father. When you take away the rift and who they are in terms of the royal family, they are a family, and Harry’s gone through an awful lot since finding out his father’s been diagnosed with cancer. He’s all those miles away, understandably very worried about his papa, as he calls him, and he is here for three days. I think it was very much his hope that he’d get to see his father. I’m told he’s rather hurt and quite disappointed that he hasn’t had that opportunity.”
And the despair cuts even deeper! On Wednesday, King Charles officially appointed Harry’s big bro, the Prince of Wales, to be the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps. That was a role that the king himself had held for 31 years before ascending to the throne. But here’s the rub: Harry served in that exact unit for ten years, including multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan. So he would have been poised to be active with it… had he stayed in the royal fam.
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But now it’s under William’s charge. Nicholl says that move has helped extend and deepen the family rift:
“I think many people will see that as a bit of a snub from the palace, and perhaps a little bit of a poke in the ribs to Prince Harry… He’s been stripped of his right to wear his military uniform, and now his brother’s taken over the role that… Harry certainly would have expected to come to him had he still been a working member of the royal family. I think the timing does feel poignant. I think it’s probably another slap in the face for Prince Harry, and yet another reminder that he’s very much out rather than in when it comes to the royal family.”
Bad vibes like that will also likely once again keep Harry and Meghan far away from June’s Trooping the Colour this year. Every year the royal fam gets together on the palace balcony, in full regalia, creating some of the best photo opportunities of the whole party together.
But are Harry and Meghan even part of the royal fam anymore? Well, not “working members” in any case. Calling a potential reunion at the annual event “incredibly unlikely,” Nicholl had this to say about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s likely plans (er, non-plans) for that event:
“They are not working members of the royal family. I think for the king that prestigious spot up on Buckingham Palace’s balcony is reserved for working family members. I’m sure people will read a lot into the family rift. We know there’s great distance between Harry and his family, but in terms of whether he has a right to be on that palace balcony, he lost that right when he stepped down as a working member of the firm.”
Triple ouch!
But in the end, after all this unfortunate and unsettling insight, Nicholl has a surprising amount of hope for the situation. Really?! She believes that King Charles will make some kind of effort to meet with Harry and the Suits alum and their kids at some point later this year:
“Harry has said that he had hoped that, out of the adversity of his father’s illness, he would reunify with the family. It’s clearly very much his intention. My understanding is the king also wants to sort of rekindle his relationship with his son. He loves his son. He’s a very forgiving man. I think he certainly wants to move on. While time hasn’t been made available on this particular trip, it’ll certainly be the king’s hope that he will get to see Harry and his family at some point later this year.”
Wow. Well, that would really be something. Seems like the father and son could have at least met this week with Harry in the area for the Invictus Games and all, but, OK. Thoughts, Perezcious readers?? Reactions?! Share ’em (below)…
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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