All eyes will be on Prince Harry on Wednesday as he celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke of Sussex is briefly in the U.K. for business reasons, but it’s hard not to think about his father, King Charles III, who is currently battling cancer. While a Sussex spokesperson made it clear that there would be no father-son meeting, it’s being reported that Harry had a specific request that the palace would not honor.
Prince Harry and King Charles apparently engaged in a “difficult” round of negations, according to royal expert Charlotte Griffith. She told GB News, “There is some talk that behind the scenes, a lot of negotiating went on. I think the reason was because Harry made certain demands about who could be in the room and who couldn’t.” It’s no secret that the Duke of Sussex is not a fan of Queen Camilla, who joined Harry and his dad for their 45-minute visit after his cancer diagnosis was revealed earlier this year. What does it take for a son to be able to see his father alone?
“Maybe other forces were driving Charles’s position on this,” Griffiths speculated. “William may have had a thought about how this meeting should be conducted or whether it should be conducted at all. We know that Charles likes to meet Harry with Camilla in the room which isn’t always a popular decision. Harry was without his wife as well, so this was fraught with difficulty.” It feels like the Duke of Sussex’s continued outreach toward his family always has a wall or obstacle to get around. It’s still hard to believe that not a single working royal will be at his Invictus Games celebration, even though he reportedly extended an invitation.
The perceived slight has also garnered criticism from a former palace staffer, who thinks the royal family is making the wrong move. “Charles has made it quite clear he is ready to be friendly and supportive to Harry in his capacity as a private person, as his dad, but he is not going to throw the weight of the institution behind Invictus again,” the insider told The Daily Beast. “This all seems very logical inside the Palace bubble, but the trouble is that people who don’t particularly care about such things, who are dimly aware that the royals spend their days visiting community centers and opening supermarkets, are going to wonder why they are boycotting this terrific charity that is headed by the king’s son.”
While Griffith thinks that Harry is being “difficult” by asking for a meeting alone with his father, he does have a right to privacy. He and Meghan Markle have been burned by palace insiders leaking information about them in the past, and the best way for him to protect his peace is with a one-on-one moment with his dad. The royal family feud doesn’t need the interference of others.
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