It’s too early to tell if this week was some kind of turning point, but I’m starting to get the feeling that King Charles, Queen Camilla and the palace courtiers have overplayed their hand when it comes to their smear machine against Prince Harry and even casual observers are starting to notice. Harry released one gracious statement on Tuesday, saying that he would not meet his father during his trip to the UK and that this lack of meeting was due to his father’s busy schedule. The statement even included this: “The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.” Gracious, polite, mature. Charles and Camilla have been on the g-ddamn warpath ever since, with the palace machine going into overdrive to brief against Harry. I don’t know how he does it, but Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast always manages to get quotes from the biggest hysterics in the royal clique, and his exclusive was predictably unhinged:
The royal feud was reignited this week: King Charles’ refusal to meet with Prince Harry, send a minor royal to attend his Invictus event at St Paul’s Cathedral in London this week, or even issue a social media post in support of it is “a clear message that Harry is not welcome to conduct official, quasi-royal events in the U.K. that distract from the monarchy’s message and agenda,” a royal source has told The Daily Beast.
Charles made a point of snubbing Invictus & veterans too, all to send Harry a message: The royal source, a former staffer who worked for several royals including Charles, William, and Harry during their time in royal service, said: “Even if Charles genuinely was too busy to meet Harry and too short-staffed to send anyone to St Pauls,’ Charles’ aides could of course quite easily have issued a statement or posted a little message of congratulation for Invictus on his social media channels. The fact that they didn’t shows they don’t want to do anything to encourage Harry to spend more time in the U.K. Charles is never going to endorse a hostile, rival royal operation on his doorstep. Instead, Charles sent a clear message that he is not welcome to conduct official, quasi-royal events in the U.K. that distract from the monarchy’s message and agenda.”
Harry’s statement was childish, you guys: One friend of the king and Queen Camilla said, speaking of the statement: “No-one trusted him before, and they certainly don’t now. It’s rude, undignified and childish to make these attacks on his family when he knows they can’t answer back. It’s also inconsiderate, to say the least, to make the life of an elderly man who has cancer more difficult. Charles is trying his hardest to do his job in very difficult circumstances. Harry claims to love his family. He has a funny way of showing it. It’s reminiscent of how he spent the last months of Queen Elizabeth’s life saying how much he loved her while attacking the monarchy to which she had devoted her life. Nothing has changed. We are back to square one.”
The Waleses chimed in: A friend of Prince William and Kate Middleton said: “I think people understand now why the brothers are as far apart as ever. It’s very sad, but William is right not to trust him.”
The palace didn’t want to give Harry anything, lest he speak to Nigerian media: A report in the Telegraph Thursday, also said that Harry’s decision to discuss the meeting just days after it took place had damaged trust with his family. It suggested the palace wanted to be sure there was not a repeat of the GMA situation if Harry is interviewed when he is in Nigeria in the coming days.
Over the course of one week, King Charles blew up a year of palace damage-control when it came to Harry. For the past year, it’s been “of course Charles wants to mend fences, of course he loves his son, of course Charles wants to reconcile and see his grandchildren.” Then Charles and Camilla both threw enormous temper tantrums this week and now it’s “The fact that they didn’t shows they don’t want to do anything to encourage Harry to spend more time in the U.K. Charles is never going to endorse a hostile, rival royal operation on his doorstep.” So much for the peacemaker king, huh? So much for even trying to be a loving father. This is the real Charles – petty, angry, sick with jealousy, intemperate, and perfectly willing to throw away his relationship with Harry because the last thing he wants is a “hostile, rival royal operation on his doorstep.”
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.