Things are not so sunny in Montecito at the moment. Earlier this week, it was reported that Prince William was furious at Meghan Markle for her continued private usage of the HRH (Her Royal Highness) title she gave up when she and Prince Harry left the royal family in 2020. While it’s one kind of bummer to read about family strife from anonymous sources, it’s another to hear it straight from the family. On Friday, Prince Harry gave an interview to the BBC after he lost another round of his court battle in the U.K., where he’s been appealing a previous decision that allowed the government to scale back his security detail. In the interview, Harry revealed that while he’s “forgiven” his family, King Charles is still not talking to him.
Speaking from California, Harry said that while he is ready to put the past behind him, his attempts to re-up his taxpayer-funded security detail when back in the U.K. have “always been the sticking point.” Harry’s security situation was downgraded when he stepped down from the royal family in 2020, so when he’s in the U.K., he is provided state-funded police protection on a case-by-case basis. At one point, Harry reportedly offered to personally pay for police protection while in the country, but that was denied by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures.
“I would love reconciliation with my family,” Harry said. “There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile.”
Harry has had some contact with Charles in the years since leaving England and writing a tell-all, but it’s reportedly been frosty. Harry attended his father’s coronation in 2023, albeit in a diminished capacity — he was not allowed to wear his military uniform, he had to sit next to the disgraced Prince Andrew, and he got out of dodge as soon as the ceremony was over. In 2024, after it was announced that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer, Harry hopped on a plane and went to see his father. Their meeting reportedly only lasted about 45 minutes. A few months later, when Harry was back in the U.K., King Charles threw a big party at the exact same time as Harry’s Invictus Games church service and required the attendance of the royal family. Sounds like a really healthy family dynamic they’ve got going on.
Click here to preview your posts with PRO themes ››
In his interview, Harry said he was “devastated” by the recent court ruling and explained that it meant he did not feel safe bringing his family to the U.K. “I love my country, I always have, despite what some people in that country have done,” Harry said. “I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”
Harry also noted that he believes the original decision to strip him of a security detail was a tactic to try to keep him from leaving the royal family. “Everybody knew that they were putting us at risk in 2020 and they hoped that me knowing that risk would force us to come back,” he said, adding that the issue is, above all else, a “family dispute.” “It makes me really, really sad that we’re sitting here today, five years later, where a decision that was made most likely, in fact I know, to keep us under the roof,” he said.
It sounds like what these people really need is a world-class family therapist, ASAP. Archie and Lilibet deserve to know the pleasures of a good Sunday roast … and also the love of their grandpa, if he’s willing.
