Prince Harry and King Charles have had a somewhat strained relationship over the past few years, sparked by Prince Harry’s decision to step down as a senior working royal in 2020.
Their relationship has remained under pressure ever since and now it has been reported that Harry and his father are no longer speaking to one another.
According to PEOPLE, the Duke of Sussex’s “desperation to protect his wife and kids has deepened his estrangement from his father.”
A source told the publication that “[Harry] gets ‘unavailable right now'” when he tries to ring him. “His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.”
They added that Harry is extremely concerned for the safety of his wife, Meghan and children, Archie and Lilibet, which is why he hasn’t brought them back to the United Kingdom. The Duke has reportedly tried to reach out to Charles for help because he “feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father.”
The strain in their father-son relationship was further proven when Prince Harry was in London earlier this year to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games. According to HELLO!, the King was extremely busy and was unable to see his son “due to His Majesty’s full programme”.
In response, a representative of the Prince told Bazaar that “The Duke, of course, is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
The Duke is once again set to return to the UK in late September, but royal expert Hugo Vickers has shared a blunt prediction about the likelihood of Harry seeing his father.
“If I may put it like this, if the King wishes to see him, he will arrange to see him,” Hugo told The Sun. “If he doesn’t wish to see him, he’ll be too busy. Simple as that.”
Prior to that, Prince Harry was most recently in the UK visiting the King following the announcement of his father’s shock cancer diagnosis. Harry only spent 24 hours in his home country, and reports alleged he only met with King Charles and Queen Camilla for a total of 40 minutes.
It was the Duke of Sussex’s first trip back to England since the King’s coronation in May 2023.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s decision to step down as senior working royals in 2020 caused a huge stir within the royal family, and their subsequent move to the United States seemingly put even more distance, both physical and emotional, between Harry and his father.
Harry and Meghan’s children have little to no relationship with their grandparents and the King would reportedly love to see them more.
A source close to the royal household told PEOPLE: “hopefully [Harry] will bring the grandchildren at some point, as that would be lovely for all of them,” particularly in the wake of Charles’ cancer battle.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s 2021 interview with Oprah seemingly added fuel to the fire in terms of their already-tumultuous relationship.
Harry attended his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral in the UK in September 2022 and he had a conversation with his father, brother and sister-in-law, following which a source told The Sun that “Harry, William, and Charles focused on reaching some form of peace and stability within the family moving forward.
“The conversations were focused less on what has happened and what was said with Oprah and more on how to move forward as a family. And that is not an easy path, it requires time and understanding.”
The source added, “Charles felt aggrieved at how the family’s personal affairs and family dramas were expressed in such an ‘insensitive’ way.”
Prior to the late Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022, sources told The Mirror that the Sussexes were invited to spend the summer with the King at his Balmoral estate, but they declined the invitation.
“The Prince of Wales reiterated his invitation for Harry and Meghan, and the whole family if they wished, to come and stay with him this summer while he is at his home on the Balmoral estate.
“He thought it might be a good opportunity for everyone to take stock and relax, but the invitation was declined,” a source claimed.
The release of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries as well as Prince Harry’s memoir Spare both unveiled some details and revelations about the royal family, and as a result the King was “distraught”, according to a source who spoke to Us Weekly.
“[Charles is] angry and outraged that Harry’s aired so many embarrassing and damaging assertions, and it’s put him in a terrible position with [Queen Consort] Camilla of course now that she’s been dragged into the equation.
“That’s really crossed the line in more ways than one, but there are so many egregious comments and revelations from Harry that his father doesn’t know where to start. He has hope that in time the dust will settle and Harry will soften his heart toward his family, at least he hopes so. But he’s not going to push or apologise.”
As aforementioned, Prince Harry did return to the UK in support of his father’s coronation in May 2023, and then again in February 2024 when the King’s cancer diagnosis was announced.
Making an appearance on Good Morning America following the trip, the Duke said: “Look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.”
There has been a lot of back-and-forth between the father-and-son duo, and it remains to be seen whether Prince Harry and King Charles will make amends, or if their relationship will remain strained indefinitely.
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