Over the weekend, the Sun reported that Prince Harry “desperately wants” King Charles to attend the 2027 Invictus Games in some capacity. According to those sources, Harry will ask his father to attend the opening ceremony on July 10, 2027, given that the games end on July 17 and that’s Camilla’s birthday. If all of this seems like a hysterical freakout more than 18 months ahead of schedule, then you would be correct. But you know what the left-behinds are like, they love nothing more than screaming, crying and throwing up over an event two years away. Well, as it turns out, Prince William is incandescent with rage, panic and jealousy at the thought that daddy could choose to go to Harry’s event. Sources close to William ran straight to Tom Sykes to cry about how Charles should turn down Harry’s Invictus invitation. Some excerpts from the Royalist Substack:
I’ve been talking to friends and allies of King Charles and Prince William all day to gauge reaction to Prince Harry’s latest astonishing campaign: trying to get the King to open Harry’s big Invictus Games event in Birmingham next year. The story was leaked to the Sun and has been confirmed to me as essentially true by sources in Harry’s camp.
After talking to all sides, what I can tell you for sure is that while this is a long way from a done deal, there is a very real possibility that Charles, for some insane reason, might actually be thinking about doing this, much to the chagrin of Prince William, who thinks it is madness (which it is.)
In that sense is that the story is an interesting illustration of the larger patterns and themes that are destabilizing the monarchy so much at the moment; the conflict between monarch and heir on a key matter of policy (what to do about Harry), the King’s failure to communicate clearly to his public where he stands on the matter of Harry (is he forgiven or not?), and the way that Harry’s PR team are effortlessly setting the agenda and creating talking points of their choosing.
The story has caused some on the King’s side to bristle at what they see as an attempt to bounce the King into attending the Games and lending Harry the stamp of legitimacy, but the situation is undeniably nuanced by the fact that the King has shown remarkable indulgence to Harry, meeting him and enabling him in defiance of the clearly understood wishes of his heir, William.
Friends of William want the King’s team to rebut the Invictus story before it grows legs, and hope that the “men in grey suits” will sprinkle a few scathing and sceptical responses into media briefings in coming days. But they are definitely nervous he will indeed entertain the idea as part of a broader goal of reconciling with Harry and spending time with his Sussex grandchildren.
Friends of the King and Queen told me that any attempt “to emotionally manipulate Charles will fail.” They pointed to the fact that he is “flat-out refusing to see Harry when he is London next week” for the opening day of his controversial lawsuit against Associated News as evidence of the king’s “steel” on the matter. However, they notably declined to outright dismiss Harry’s suggestion (via the Sun) that Charles could appear alongside Harry to open the Invictus Games in 2027.
Indeed, one friend said: “The King has always made it very clear that he loves both his sons and of course he wants to be reconciled with Harry. It would be a source of great joy to him if trust could improve sufficiently to normalize the relationship.” Asked if that meant he would like to appear alongside Harry at the Invictus Games, the source said, “It’s still a long way in the future, it’s too early to speculate about.”
Friends of William are concerned that Charles is once again allowing the narrative to be set by the Sussexes, and urged the King to rebut the story and definitively rule out any public appearance with Harry unless he apologises for the “appalling and derogatory” comments he made about the King and Queen in his memoir, in which he painted them as weak, jealous and cruel.
Having been encouraged by the Daily Mail story that the King was evolving a new stance—no new meeting without an apology—which aligned himself more closely with William’s uncompromising (and extraordinarily popular) position, they say the King now has to effectively pick a side. One friend of William’s told me the King ought to move swiftly to kill the story, saying: “Let’s see what the men in grey suits have to say about Harry’s plan.”
This piece is overwrought and I cut out a lot of backstory, but there’s one concession I’ll make to Sykes’ pro-William position: Charles’s dithering isn’t helping anyone. Charles’s messaging on his sons is chaotic and contradictory, and it’s way past time for Charles to figure out what kind of relationship he wants to have with both Harry AND William. Charles needs to come up with some plan and stick to it rather than going whichever way the wind blows on any given week.
That being said, I get the sense that Charles often feels terrorized by William, and that Charles is deeply disappointed with William’s enormous character flaws (William’s short-sightedness, stupidity, classlessness, lack of culture, and fundamental bullying nature). Charles is like everyone else – he walks on eggshells around William and his violent temper. Charles actually wants to have a relationship with Harry, but Charles doesn’t know how to go about it without incurring William’s wrath, not to mention briefings like the one above. I mean, look at how audaciously stupid William is, and that’s what Charles has to deal with on a somewhat daily basis from his heir: William is briefing his sycophantic press allies that Charles, Britain’s commander in chief, should publicly announce that he’s not coming to the Invictus Games or supporting the Invictus community whatsoever. Sure, that would go over well! Great strategy, Peggy!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
