Prince Harry arrived in the UK yesterday, early in the day. He already did a public event with seemingly limited press availability. The event was for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, and it was basically a panel discussion with some of the British Invictus organization people. That alone caused a huge commotion in the British media, but then something else happened once Harry was on British soil: his spokesperson confirmed, in a simple statement, that Harry will not see his father on this visit “due to His Majesty’s full program. The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.” The way Harry maneuvered this situation was brilliant – simply acknowledging that there had been some communication and that Charles refused to meet him because Charles had scheduled busy-work specifically to coincide with Harry’s visit. Harry put the onus on Charles, the same dogsh-t father who has been openly briefing the media about a potential meeting with Harry for the past week. Well, the palace is scrambling. And they seemingly contacted Richard Kay at the Daily Mail to do some clean-up:
Prince Harry’s arrival in Britain had triggered speculation that father and son would meet. Some had even boldly suggested that such a meeting might, at long last, start a process of reconciliation between the King and Harry. Indeed, there was even murmur of an olive branch being extended. Instead, the hand-wringing excuses of ‘full diaries’ offers a different and, for Harry, a more ominous message. Unlike that dramatic flying visit in February, where the Prince was granted a less than 30-minute meeting just after Charles’s cancer diagnosis had been made public, the palace gates remained firmly closed.
Pointedly, it was the Duke of Sussex’s team that broke cover with a spokesman explaining that a meeting ‘unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme’. Even with the acknowledgement that Harry recognised his father’s ‘commitments and various other priorities’, the nuance in the bulletin was clear: the failure to meet was not Harry’s fault. So much for olive branches.
What then is going on, and what do events tell us about the state of relations between the exiled Harry, his father and the rest of the Royal Family? One conclusion would suggest that, far from his hope of reuniting with his father in the wake of the King’s cancer diagnosis, the illness has, if anything, added to their estrangement.
But, in fact, I understand that there had been no formal request from either the King or his son to schedule a meeting. For Harry also had a packed programme. From his overnight flight from Los Angeles, he was whisked to an event for the Invictus Games, his project for wounded and former armed forces personnel, at Armoury House in East London.
And today, while the King hosts the first garden party of the year, the Prince will mark the tenth anniversary of the games with a service at St Paul’s cathedral. If Harry had been so set on seeing his father, it is tempting to wonder why he didn’t fly over a day or two earlier when Charles had no official duties. How significant that might have been if they had been together on the first anniversary of the King’s coronation. Inconveniently, that fell on Prince Archie’s fifth birthday and Harry chose to spend it with his family in California.
Once, Harry’s return visits to the UK meant it was relatively straightforward for him to drop in on his father, but he no longer has royal accommodation. And, intriguingly, he made no request to stay at any royal residence for this two-night visit.
This alone suggests that chances of a rapprochement are more remote than ever. Trust too has evaporated in the 16 months since Harry’s explosive memoir Spare, with its excoriating attacks on Camilla, William and Kate.
Some old friends were surprised that given his Christian faith, a King who practises humility and empathy as a matter of course, could find no time to see his son. Others argued that no blame could surely be attached to Charles if he viewed such encounters with his son as more a burden than a pleasure.
Wow, Buckingham Palace is really trying to massage Harry’s statement and they ended up spilling some fascinating tea. “I understand that there had been no formal request from either the King or his son to schedule a meeting.” My interpretation of that is that Harry called his father informally and asked if they could schedule something and Charles, forever a whiner, complained about his full schedule. Harry said “okay, well, I’m busy too” and left it at that. Charles expected Harry to beg, Charles’s staff expected Harry to go through official channels, and Harry called everybody’s bluff.
“If Harry had been so set on seeing his father, it is tempting to wonder why he didn’t fly over a day or two earlier when Charles had no official duties.” If Harry had done so (lol) Charles would have scheduled busy-work to cover that time frame too. Although Charles would have loved it if Harry skipped Archie’s birthday for five minutes of Charles’s time.
“Intriguingly, he made no request to stay at any royal residence for this two-night visit.” The fact that palace courtiers leaked that information to Richard Kay at the Daily Mail tells you exactly why Harry doesn’t want the palace to know his itinerary or travel plans. Buckingham Palace is one of Harry’s biggest security threats.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.