The strained relationship between Prince Harry and King Charles, as well as the rest of the royals, affected the monarch’s relationship with his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. While Charles’ bond with William’s children is close, he has only seen Archie a handful of times, while Lili only once.
As per the Mirror, Charles “has had discussions” about visiting Harry and his family in the States “at some time in the future.”
Royal expert Tom Quinn spoke to the newspaper and said, “There is no doubt if it goes ahead he would build in time to visit his youngest son and his grandchildren, but there are mountains of planning to be overcome before that becomes even a remote possibility.
“It’s certainly possible that he would make a discreet private visit to Harry and the children in California,” the royal expert added. “He is desperate to see them and hates the idea that Archie and Lily will not remember him as the warm friendly grandfather he wants to be.”
Louella Alderson, a relationship experts, has also spoken on the subject and told Mirror that the King’s willingness to meet his son and his family is a significant gesture, but considering his royal engagements and his fragile health, the trip to the States “would likely require careful planning and coordination.”
During Harry’s London visit in May, where he attended the ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, he didn’t have the chance to meet with his father because of the King’s tight schedule. The last meeting between the father and the son took place shortly after Charles’ cancer diagnosis was made public.
The possibility of Harry making a visit to his homeland together with his family is a matter of discussion because his wife Meghan was said to fear for her children’s safety when in Britain.
A source close to the Sussexes opened up about Meghan’s decision not to accompany her husband to Britain for the Invictus Games celebration. “It’s now got to the point where Meghan doesn’t want to come to the UK with the children. She just doesn’t feel safe. The situation is now about whether the family should attend with increased security or Harry should go it alone,” they said at the time.
Last year, Harry disputed the Home Office’s decision to cut his security protection while he was in the UK. Following his departure from royal life, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) withdrew his automatic police protection. Additionally, his offer to pay for his own security was rejected because British police could not be hired privately.
“It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020,” Harry’s statement, read by his lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC stated, as reported by BBC.
“The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.”
The Duke added, “I cannot put my wife in danger like that, and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
According to a friend of King Charles, Harry is aware of how much his father misses his grandchildren and is using that knowledge to “emotionally blackmail” his father.
“Harry has lost his security case in court, and is now trying the emotional blackmail route to get what he wants instead, cynically using the threat of Archie and Lilibet never meeting their grandfather again as a tactic to coerce the king into overruling RAVEC.,” the source told the Daily Beast.
“The idea that the security forces are going to allow the Sussexes to be attacked by an acid-throwing or knife-wielding maniac on British soil is absurd, and Harry knows it. Using it as leverage, as a reason to withhold his kids from their grandfather, is beyond contempt. Charles is being treated for very serious cancer, so even if he could find the time, he cannot just fly to Los Angeles at the drop of a hat, like Harry can—and actually did earlier this year—in the other direction.”
The source also questioned how Archie and Lili would feel in the future for being denied a meaningful relationship with their grandfather.
Archie and Lili also have no relationship with their cousins, George, Charlotte, and Louis.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams believes that the relationship between King Charles and Prince Harry has worsened, dubbing it “dreadful.”
“This is a very, very curious issue because when the Sussexes stepped back, only to step down as senior working royals, they knew they would lose automatic police protection,” he said. “Harry believes this was a wrong decision and that it was wrongly made. He’s sued against the Home Office. I mean, he was always going to lose that.”
The expert added: “What is clearly emerging is that he believes Britain is dangerous. Now, that appears hypocritical when you look at, say, security in Nigeria, even if it was arranged by the defence minister. Or the security in Colombia, even if the vice president is arranging it, and the facts simply are that both countries are considered somewhat dangerous, certainly parts of them.
“Would he bring Meghan, would she want to come, given the fact she’s so unpopular? Would King Charles meet his grandchildren again? Time will tell,” Richard Fitzwilliams concluded.
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