According to a palace insider who spoke to The Mail on Sunday, King Charles is too busy to meet with Prince Harry during Harry’s upcoming trip to the UK.
Similarly, there are no plans for Harry to rendezvous with his elder brother, Prince William while he is in London for the WellChild Awards this Thursday, just before departing for Germany to attend the sixth annual Invictus Games.
Prince Harry, 38, along with his spouse Meghan Markle, 42, has maintained a distant relationship with the royal family since they departed from official royal duties in January 2020.
Their estrangement escalated through a Netflix documentary and Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” in which they openly voiced their numerous grievances against “The Firm.”
The couple were notably excluded from the royal family’s traditional summer gathering at Balmoral this year, as reported by the Mail.
Since Harry and Meghan left Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, it’s unclear if the palace will provide a place for Harry to stay during his short visit to the UK this week.
News of King Charles’ perceived neglect surfaced shortly after Harry publicly criticized the royal family for their lack of “support” following the tragic passing of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, as revealed in a recent Netflix documentary, “The Heart of Invictus.” He lamented his lack of a support system, a network, or expert guidance to help him navigate the aftermath of Diana’s fatal car accident, compounded by the trauma he experienced during his military service in Afghanistan.
In “Spare,” Harry further asserted that King Charles failed to offer him even a hug when breaking the devastating news about Diana’s demise. He wrote of the tense moment, “He wasn’t great at showing emotions under normal circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis?”
Nonetheless, additional sources have countered these claims, asserting that Charles, 74, takes pride in Harry’s efforts with the Invictus Games.
An insider dismissed the notion that Harry used the documentary as a platform to attack Charles, stating, “The idea that Harry has used the series to attack Charles is a total exaggeration; he hasn’t.”
Harry’s Upcoming Plans and Royal Concerns
“The Heart of Invictus,” which fell short of reaching Netflix’s Top 10, followed the journeys of wounded veterans preparing for the 2016 Invictus Games—a multi-sport event for servicemen and women initiated by Prince Harry in 2014 after being inspired by the Warrior Games in the United States.
Harry is set to return to Dusseldorf for the games later this month after his appearance at the WellChild Awards on Thursday, which incidentally falls on the eve of the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing.
Last year, Harry was prepared to speak at the same event but redirected his plans to join relatives at Balmoral after his grandmother became ill and subsequently passed away.
Harry has been a patron of WellChild for 15 years and maintained his involvement with the organization despite relocating to California nearly four years ago.
According to The Daily Beast, Prince William, who now holds the title of Prince of Wales, and his wife, Kate Middleton, are reportedly apprehensive that Harry may make remarks at the Thursday event that might overshadow the significant anniversary.
Notably, the brothers are believed to have not communicated since the release of “Spare” in January.
In the meantime, Meghan, due to prior commitments involving the couple’s children, is expected to skip the WellChild Awards and join Harry in Germany, according to sources.