Former royal butler Grant Harrold said the fact that King Charles and Prince Harry didn’t meet last week appears to suggest that their relationship has ‘further deteriorated’
A former royal staffer has said it is “odd” that King Charles didn’t meet his younger son, Prince Harry, while he was in the UK last week, adding this shows that their relationship has “further deteriorated”.
The Duke of Sussex visited London to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, and it was initially thought he would meet his father during his visit. However, there was no meeting between the monarch and his son, who now lives in California with his wife and children, and no senior royals attended the service at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Harry met Princess Diana’s siblings who attended the service to support him, and according to former royal butler Grant Harrold, the Duke might get even closer to his mother’s relatives due to his “deteriorating” relationship with his family. Mr Harrold, who worked for Charles and Camilla between 2004 and 2011, said it seems like it “isn’t an option at the moment” to fix the royal rift, which could now be “beyond the point of no return”.
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However, the former royal butler still holds hope that “time can heal” and one day Harry’s relationship with his family could improve. Speaking on behalf of Slingo, Mr Harrold said: “I don’t know why they didn’t meet. To me, it seemed odd because obviously you would have thought that when a family member is in a country, you would make sure you’ve made a point of going to make appointments with them. The fact the King said he was extremely busy and yes, he was, he had a garden party in the afternoon, and it’s possible that maybe his calendar was very full.”
He added: “Sadly, I think it’s a sign of how much things have deteriorated and shows you the relationship between them has obviously decreased further, and again, the same with Prince William. Even now I’m beginning to think maybe there will not be a return point from this because the relationship has been so badly damaged.
“But as with all things, time can heal. It’s possible one day the relationship – in some shape or form – could be back on the cards but right now I don’t think that’s an option.”
A spokesperson for Harry confirmed he would not meet his father during his short trip to the UK last week due to the monarch’s “full programme”. They said in a statement: “It unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme.”
However, the statement added that a future meet-up could be on the cards soon. It added: “The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
Talking about Harry’s connection with Diana’s family, Mr Harrold said: “He’s always been very close to his mother’s family, even when I worked there. It’s always been the case, and as he’s got older, he’s realised that you’ve only got one family. It’s possible that because he’s become so distanced from his own father’s family, reaching out to his mother’s family is something that maybe he feels a connection to more.
“It’s not unusual, really, but again, it just shows you how with families, we’ve all got large families and sometimes you’re closer to one branch than the other.” Harry has had a frosty relationship with his dad, especially since he was highly critical of his royal relatives in his controversial memoir Spare – and was particularly scathing about his stepmother Camilla. But according to sources, the monarch had been keen to see his son, who now lives in California.
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A source said last week: “Harry has kept in regular contact with his father on several occasions and made no secret of his desire to see him when he can. He has been especially concerned about him and hopes the King will be well and able to see him as planned.”
Harry’s trip to the UK is his second to Britain this year, after February’s trip to see his dad a day after it was announced Charles had cancer. Harry managed to see his ailing father for just 30 minutes at Clarence House.
It marked a healing step in their relationship that was dented after Harry and Meghan quit royal life in 2020 and moved to the US. In a recent US TV interview, Harry said he hoped the King’s Âdiagnosis can have a “reunifying effect” on the family.
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