Royal biographer/commentator Robert Hardman has added new chapters to his book Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, which was initially released in January of this year to widespread ambivalence. Hardman saw that ambivalence and he leaned into the Sussex drama of if all, devoting a big chunk of these new chapters to King Charles’s estrangement from Prince Harry. Would it shock you to learn that Charles told his biographer that the estrangement is all Harry’s fault? It’s sad that this terrible old man cannot problem-solve his way out of a wet paper bag, but here we are. Hardman lists his big three reasons why Charles and Harry’s estrangement has little hope of thawing. Reason #1: Charles believes that Harry wants money, and Charles doesn’t want to give him money. Reason #2: If Charles tried to make peace with Harry, that would enrage Prince William. Reason #3 is a variation on something we’ve heard before, which is that Charles is really mad that Harry continues to sue the government over the withdrawal of his security. From Hardman’s piece in the Mail:
The Duke of Sussex had many other legal actions in hand against the media, but this ongoing quarrel with the Government was especially problematic for the King as the ‘fountain of justice’.
‘Here you have the infelicitous situation where the King’s son is suing the King’s ministers in the King’s courts,’ points out one senior constitutional expert and adviser to the family. ‘That is pulling the King in three directions. You also have the situation where the King’s son publishes accounts of private conversations, some of which have been, shall we say, wrong.’
The adviser points, by way of example, to the section of Spare in which his account of being told of the Queen Mother’s death was a fabrication. Harry had painted a forlorn picture of a lonely Eton schoolboy being told, by a lackey, of the death of his adored great-grandmother: ‘I took the call. I wish I could remember whose voice was at the other end: a courtier’s, I believe. I recall that it was just before Easter, the weather bright and warm, light slanting through my window, filled with vivid colours. ‘Your Royal Highness, the Queen Mother has died.’ ‘ Harry was actually in Switzerland, skiing with his father and brother, when all three received the news.
‘So imagine the situation,’ says the adviser, ‘if the Prince were to talk to his father about his court case and then later to describe that conversation – or, worse, a conversation which was not entirely accurate. There would be serious legal jeopardy.’
‘Harry would only have to say, ‘My father said this’ and a court case could collapse,’ says the adviser. ‘That’s not just awkward. That’s bad. That is deep legal and constitutional jeopardy when you are head of state and of the judiciary and it is His Majesty’s Government.’
As the year has unfolded, however, there have been some indications that the Duke’s attitude towards the monarchy might be mellowing. Sources very close to the Sussexes insisted that any reports that the Duke or Duchess might be writing any fresh memoirs were ‘void of truth’. Weeks later, Prince Harry’s publishers announced that Spare would be published in paperback in October. Tellingly, it was also announced that the author would not be providing any new material.
Within the Royal Family, however, the feeling would persist that, as long as Prince Harry continued to be a very busy litigant, a rapprochement would be extremely difficult. ‘Even then,’ points out an aide, ‘you still have the trust issue to be resolved. And then, having predicated this whole case on the fact that Britain is insecure, would Harry bring the children over anyway? That is the tragedy of all this. It’s a mess – but it is not one of our making.’
While I’ll never be in the mood to show generosity towards Charles, I’ll admit that I slightly see the general point being made here. What’s worse is that Harry absolutely wants to talk to Charles about the security situation, because Harry believes Charles could alter it or order RAVEC to give Harry security for every visit on demand (which, from what I’ve seen, Charles could do). Harry believes that because QEII gave the Sussexes security when they visited her – she had her own protection officers looking after the Sussexes, and Harry had protection when he made various solo visits last-minute too. So, Harry has a point in wanting to talk to his father about security, but Charles has a point about not wanting to say anything about security given Harry’s ongoing lawsuits. In Harry’s various lawsuits against the press, he’s already brought up “private” conversations he had with his grandmother and brother. It’s actually a reasonable concern from Charles. That’s all I’ll say. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.