After years of tension, Prince Harry has revealed that he “would love a reconciliation” with the extended royal family, including his father, King Charles whom he is not on speaking terms.
After he lost an appeal over the security levels he and his family were entitled to in the UK in early May, the Duke of Sussex gave a rare televised interview to the BBC where he discussed the current state of his relationship with his family at length.
He said security had “always been the sticking point” with his family, and that he had now “forgiven” them despite their differences.
“There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” Harry told the media organisation.
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight anymore, life is precious,” he added.
Speaking about his father, he said Charles refused to speak with him anymore because of the “security stuff.” Despite this, the Duke said he didn’t want to keep fighting with his father, especially in the wake of the monarch’s cancer diagnosis.
The lack of security when he visited the UK had a great impact on him, Prince Harry added in the interview, revealing that he and his family could only access taxpayer funded security when they were formally invited to the UK by the royal family.
“Everybody knew that they were putting us at risk in 2020, and they hoped that me knowing that risk would force us to come back. But then, when you realise that didn’t work, do you not want to keep us safe?”
“Whether you’re the government, the Royal Household, whether you’re my dad, my family – despite all of our differences, do you not want to just ensure our safety?”
The Prince said he was “sad” that he was unable to show his children where he grew up. After this ruling, he said he would not be pursuing any more legal action about the matter.
A lack of unity between father and son
The comments come after Prince Harry was in London at the same time as King Charles on April 6, but they did not reunite.
His Majesty arrived via helicopter at Kensington Palace at 10:30am that morning, while the Duke of Sussex flew into the British capital at 3pm that same afternoon.
While there were several hours still remaining in the day, the 76-year-old was unable to see Prince Harry due to a pre-planned private appointment.
Unfortunately, their opportunity to meet was limited to that day, with Charles flying to Italy for a four-day state visit alongside his wife Queen Camilla the following morning.
Harry had returned to the United Kingdom to appeal a court ruling from April 2024 that revoked his access to state-funded security when he visited the UK both alone, with his wife Meghan Markle, and their two young children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Daily Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman said the case could have been part of the reason why they did not reunite.
“There is legal jeopardy, which is the simple fact that here you have the son of the King suing the King’s ministers in the King’s court, and that just creates all sorts of legal problems,” he said in an episode of Palace Confidential.
“It would only need Harry to have a conversation with his father and then afterwards let slip, ‘Oh my dad said this or my dad said that’ and as we know, he does repeat conversations quite readily. That could lead to all sorts of problems. It could actually bring down a court case because the King is the fount of justice. He has got to be very careful.”
The last known meeting between father and son was more than a year ago in February 2024 when Harry made an emergency dash from his home in Montecito, Californi,a to London following the monarch’s shocking cancer diagnosis.
He was in the country for less than 24 hours and only had a brief, private meeting with his father.
Robert said Charles’ treatment could also be another reason. “Let’s not forget, there is a lot of stress,” he said. “He is someone undergoing medical treatment so people are trying to keep the stress levels down but his legal advice is you can’t have a conversation until all this is sorted out.”
What happened between Prince Harry and King Charles?
Before that, Harry’s last trip to the UK was in May 2023 for the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla, heading straight to the airport to fly home to America after the event.
“Any illness, any sickness, brings families together…and that makes me very happy,” he later shared in an interview with Good Morning America, leaving many royal watchers to believe the health crisis may help mend their strained relationship.
Despite this, royal insiders have previously claimed that the King stopped picking up the phone to the Duke, and was “frustrated” that Harry believed he could influence decisions made surrounding access to state-funded security.
While Buckingham Palace and spokespersons for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have declined to comment on the current state of Charles and Harry’s relationship, or when they will reunite, a friend of Harry’s has shed light on the situation.
“His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too,” they shared with PEOPLE in July 2024.
“He gets ‘unavailable right now,'” he added.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had their automatic rights to UK police security stripped by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) after they formally stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
While Harry did offer to pay for the cost of using state security services, his bid was rejected. His legal team had previously revealed that he did “not feel safe” bringing his children to his home country without police protection.
It is worth noting that constitutionally, the monarch has no government power in the UK and over RAVEC. It has been reported, however, that the Duke wanted his father to intervene.
