King Charles is continually plagued by one key worry when it comes to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, according to an expert.
Father and son have had a rocky bond since Harry dramatically quit his royal role with tensions rising further as the King has often been the target of Harry, with several accusations levelled at him. In Harry and Meghan’s six-part Netflix series, the Duke accused his dad of lying during an important meeting around the time he quit the UK for the United States, while in his controversial memoir Spare, he said his father put his own interests before his.
The pair met earlier this year when it revealed that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer, but they did not get together during Harry’s last visit to the UK. And one expert says although Charles is still open to reconciliation – one issue is a major worry.
Writing in his new book Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography, which has been serialised in the Daily Mail, author Robert Jobson says: “As for King Charles, he’s let it be known that he’ll never shut the door on his second child, though there seems little chance of a meaningful reconciliation for now. And Harry and Meghan? Their biggest paydays – for the book and the Netflix series – seem to be behind them. Now that the public have wearied of their constant complaints, they’re trying to find an income stream (jam, anyone?) that doesn’t involve dishing dirt on the Royal Family.
“It’s possible, of course, that they may never again be able to conjure up the many millions required to fuel their chosen lifestyle. The ‘Harry problem’, as it’s known among Palace staff, continues to plague the King. ‘What worries His Majesty, and his top team,’ says a Palace official, ‘is what is going to happen when all the money runs out.'”
It comes after another royal expert accused Harry of “playing the victim” after he reportedly turned down an olive branch from King Charles over security concerns. Royal insiders claim that the Duke refused an offer from the King to stay in a royal residence during his UK stay back in May. It is said the offer was knocked back because it did not come with any security provision and he would be in a “visible location with public entrance and exit points and no police protection”.
Instead, Harry stayed in a hotel which meant that he had no reunion with the King, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment. His team swiftly released a statement saying his dad was effectively too busy to see him. But speaking to OK!, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said Harry’s reported excuse “does not wash”.
She explained: “I find it very hard to buy the argument that Harry wouldn’t feel safe in a royal residence. They are heavily guarded, as you would expect and there are usually several ways of getting in and out of palaces and castles, so he wouldn’t necessarily have to be seen. I’m afraid it does rather sound to me like Harry trying to make himself into a victim once again when we are told that the offer was there for him to stay in a royal residence.”
Harry has been embroiled in a long-running case against the Home Office after it was ruled in 2020, when he moved to the United States, he would no longer be given the “same degree” of publicly-funded protection when in the country. The Duke’s case has been rejected but there are now plans for an appeal.
During the case, the High Court was told that Harry believes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot “feel at home” in the UK if it is “not possible to keep them safe”. Since moving to the US, Archie and Lilibet have only been to the UK once, with Charles only having one face-to-face meeting with his youngest granddaughter.
