Prince Harry’s UK visit has sparked speculation about the state of the royal family’s relationships, with claims King Charles is less irritated by Harry than Prince William
Relations seem to have changed(Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry has a strained relationship with the royal family, but it seems to be something he’s trying to mend following his recent meeting with King Charles.
After stepping back from royal duties and relocating to America, Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have not shied away from making explosive claims about their family and palace staff. Their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey sent shockwaves around the world and Harry’s bestselling memoir Spare gave the public an intimate look into the private lives of the royal family and the tumultuous relationships within it.
When Harry’s car arrived at Clarence House this week, it marked his first meeting with his father in 19 months. Prince William and Kate Middleton didn’t attend the reunion and were instead pictured carrying out a royal engagement.
READ MORE: David Muir shares ‘chilling’ Charlie Kirk footage as fans come to disturbing realizationREAD MORE: Sharon Osbourne makes heartbreaking admission two months after husband Ozzy’s death
Following Harry and Charles’ reconciliation, speculation has been rife that the King is having issues with one of his sons, but it’s not who you might think.
Prince Harry visited the UK earlier this week(Image: Getty Images)
Tina Brown, a magazine editor and friend of Princess Diana, revealed in her Substack newsletter that King Charles is reportedly less “irritated” with Harry than he is with his older son, Prince William.
“The king is, I am told, currently less irritated with the prodigal Harry than he is with his elder son and heir,” she penned. The irritation is believed to have, in part, been caused by William’s lower number of engagements compared to Charles.
Unlike his father, William is is understood to have a preference for high “impact” engagements. These include his awards for climate crisis solutions and his project Homewards, aimed at ending homelessness.
Alongside his wife, Kate Middleton, William is also prioritizing parenting. The future King and Queen often handle tasks like the school run themselves when possible.
Prince William and Kate Middleton didn’t meet with the Duke of Sussex(Image: AP)
However, this family-centric approach has sparked some controversy, according to Brown. The expert wrote, “Somehow, William’s parenting dedication always seems couched as a tacit criticism of the king’s own paternal deficiencies.”
Brown added, “After five confirmed family vacations in the past seven months, William’s first-week-back diary pulsated with two outings: a father-daughter excursion to a Women’s Rugby World Cup pool match and a stroll through the Natural History Museum’s new gardens. Charles, despite his battle with cancer, has carried out official engagements on 175 days during the past 12 months.”
Harry’s recent quick trip to the UK resembled official royal duties. He visited programs he supports, donated a hefty $1.4 million to Children in Need and attended the WellChild Awards. However, Brown suggested that the applause he received and the success of the visit were “bad news for the Prince of Wales.”
King Charles is yet to address his meeting with Harry(Image: Max Mumby/Indigo, Getty Images)
Brown referred to it as a “reset” for Harry, and pointed out, “It cannily unleashed for William the uneasy question of what exactly the 43-year-old Prince of Wales is doing with the £23million [$31 million] a year.”
But Brown isn’t the only one who has claimed that relations between William and Charles are somewhat tense, with a palace insider telling the Standard, “William never phones his Dad directly but has to schedule a call through the King’s private office.”
They also suggested the heir and the monarch have had a “tricky relationship” for a long time. Harry himself mentioned this in his memoir, when he wrote that his brother and father were “normally squabbling.”
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.
Sign up to our FREE Entertainment newsletter and get the top showbiz stories to your inbox
ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER: Sign up here to get the latest celeb gossip, plus all the biggest film and TV news from the Mirror US straight to your inbox with our FREE newsletter.