When the world learned of King Charles’ cancer diagnosis, well-wished came pouring in from every corner of Earth. Among the rest, many believed that the sad news would bring him and his estranged son, Prince Harry, and his daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, closer together. Yet, that’s not what happened.
The Sussexes did reach out to the king and expressed their sadness over his diagnosis and offered their support, but the relationship between them not only didn’t improve, but it is at its lowest point ever.
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Harry visited Britain and had a short meeting with King Charles. During his visit, however, he enraged some of the members of the Firm, including Camilla. “Her Majesty was furious Harry flew in from his ritzy California home without getting palace approval — and came with an attitude,” a source told the National Enquirer at the time.
The same report stated that Harry asked from Camilla to leave the room because he wanted to talk to his father in private.
“I’m told Camilla was outraged,” the source went on. “She’s taken a lot of bile from Harry for years and couldn’t wait to let him have it.”
The relationship between Harry and Camilla has been a rocky one from the start. He spoke of her in the past, and she wasn’t spared in his memoir Spare either.
Harry revealed in his memoir that he and his brother had pleaded with their father not to marry Camilla.
“Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead. We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings,” Harry wrote in Spare. “We recognized that he was finally going to be with the woman he loved, the woman he’d always loved.”
He even wrote that he had asked himself if Camilla would be “just as cruel to him as all the wicked stepmothers in storybooks,” adding that William “long harbored suspicions about the Other Woman.”
Following Harry’s visit, there were rumors that he offered his help in terms of performing certain royal duties in his father’s absence, but the King refused the offer.
“Whatever has been discussed between William and the King is private, but it is absolutely and categorically clear that he (William) would not allow Harry to return. He thought it was a bad idea at the time and he’s even more clear now,” the source said.
When Prince Harry returned to the UK to briefly see his father, the royal expert stated that William had “got used to Harry being rude, unkind, and attacking his wife.”
Charles’ poor relationship with Harry has sadly affected his relationship with his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, as well.
In his book OUR KING: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch, royal author Robert Jobson describes Charles’s anguish over Archie and Lilibet, who are sixth and seventh in the line of succession.
Jobson writes that Archie and Lilbet are “always in Charles’ heart,” though the rift between Harry & Meghan and the royals has made things challenging.
“Unfortunately, due to the poor relationship with his second son, Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan, Charles has spent hardly any quality time with his other grandchildren, Archie and his sister, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor,” Jobson wrote in his book.
“But those close to him say they are always in his heart. It is one of the reasons he finds the estrangement from his second son so difficult to cope with.”
On May 10, the Duke attended a special service at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, a competition in which wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans, compete for their country. However, despite the fact that he and his father were miles away, they didn’t meet due to King Charles’ busy schedule.
When Harry and Meghan spent a few days in Nigeria recently, many saw it as a royal visit, and it certainly felt like one. Shortly before the trip during which the couple was to further their work surrounding the Invictus Games, Meghan opened up about the results of a DNA tests she had taken, sharing that she was 43 percent Nigerian, making the trip to the country rather personal.
The Nigeria visit sparked different reactions in the UK. A royal insider told the Mirror that King Charles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton are “furious” about Harry and Meghan’s trip.
“William is absolutely furious and determined to find a way to stop this happening in the future. Charles is said to be angrier than anyone has ever seen him,” royal expert Tom Quinn told the Mirror, adding that William is upset that the Nigerians “treated Meghan and Harry as if they too thought this was an official tour.”
“It’s as if Harry and Meghan have gone rogue—their Nigeria trip is a bold statement that they refuse to accept they are no longer working royals. William and Charles are scratching their heads and thinking, ‘How are we going to control this nightmare situation?’”
Quinn said that Harry and Meghan Markle were received with all the elements typical of an official royal visit and noted that their speeches in the African country “gave the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals.”
“For Charles and William, it’s as if Meghan and Harry are saying, ‘We don’t need your permission to be working royals – we will do it on our own terms whenever and wherever we like,’” Tom Quinn told the Mirror.
The truth is that neither Charles nor William can do anything to prevent these visits by Harry and his wife, but it looks like Charles has a plan.
Tom Quinn argues that King Charles has been discussing stripping Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their titles.
Harry and Meghan use their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and it wasn’t any different during one of their latest trips. Their titles were labeled on chairs during their Nigeria trip, and their website also reads “The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan, The Duke & Duchess of Sussex.”
King Charles and Prince William have engaged in lengthy discussions about stripping Harry and Meghan of titles. However, Quinn points out that this move also involves considerable risk.
“They are terrified this would backfire and make the situation worse,” Quinn told the Mirror.
“The last thing they want is to give the renegade royals something else to complain about. William and his father know that even without their royal titles, Meghan and Harry would carry on travelling the world as if they were royals and most people in the world will still welcome them.”
Following their trip to Nigeria, Harry and Meghan visited Colombia, yet another trip that caused a stir and resembled an official royal visit.
If the Sussexes continue acting as working royals, which they are certainly not, the King may get revenge on his younger son by removing him from the line of succession, although that’s something that can be done by an Act of Parliament, not the monarch himself, as per Robert Blackburn, professor of constitutional law at King’s College London.
“Like Edward VIII, Prince Harry does not wish to perform the role of royalty expected of him and has withdrawn to live abroad. Presumably therefore Prince Harry would be agreeable to abdicate his place in succession if for any reason this became an issue in royal affairs being legislated upon,” Blackburn explained.
“The order of succession can be altered by statute if a member of the Royal Family permanently resides outside the UK and no longer undertakes royal duties,” a source stated, as per Daily Record. “If that were to happen, Harry’s children could also be removed from the line of succession.”
Allegedly, the subject of Prince Harry being removed from the line of succession was brought up at the Royal Family’s summer summit at Balmoral that takes place in August.
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