Although Prince Harry speaks of his love for his family and there are reports that he plans to spend a month within the UK this summer to reconnect along with his father, friends of King Charles III said the connection between the son and father has reached a low point.
In addition to the various arguments between the 2, Harry is alleged to have also resorted to “emotional blackmail.” He threatened the king that he would never see his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet again. the chums told the Daily Beast. The friends claim that the Duke of Sussex, who lives in California, is attempting to put pressure on Charles to make use of his influence to revive Harry's automatic police protection when he and his family visit Britain.
This privilege was withdrawn from Harry when he and his wife Meghan Markle retired from royal duties and moved to California in 2020. The decision to finish this protection for Harry got here not from his father, but from the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC), a government agency that works with the Royal Family, the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office to coordinate the safety of members of the royal family.
Since then, Harry has tried to reinstate armed police protection within the UK in court, however the British government has resisted. He has said he’s paying for his family's security within the US and has offered to pay for police protection within the UK himself. However, his request was rejected on the grounds that armed British cops can’t be bought.
Despite reportedly spending greater than $1 million on lawyers, Harry has lost round after round in his legal battle over security, the Daily Beast reported. It's not immediately clear whether Charles has the authority to overturn a RAVEC decision or if he plans to make use of his position to intervene.
Last week, Harry reignited the safety row when he was interviewed for an ITV documentary about tabloid press abuses, the Daily Beast reported. During the interview, Harry claimed that his American wife Meghan Markle couldn’t safely travel to the UK and expressed his fears that she might be the victim of an acid or knife attack as a consequence of negative coverage of her within the tabloid press.
Harry did indirectly mention his children Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, but he has made it clear previously that he sees them as targets, in keeping with the Daily Beast. Meghan and the kids have been documented as victims of racist abuse online. A source near Harry insisted to the Daily Beast that the vile threats against the Duke from “neo-Nazis and extremists” are very real, and dismissed the notion that he’s using his own children as leverage to “blackmail” the royal.
Even though Harry's status inside the royal family has modified, his profile as a member of the royal family – and the threat against him – has not, the source said. “The goal for Prince Harry was simple: to ensure the safety of himself and his family in the UK so that his children can experience his homeland.”
But such references to Archie and Lilibet coming from Harry's representatives prompted a longtime friend of the king and the royal family to specific his concern to the Daily Beast that Harry is definitely using his children as leverage to get what he wants.
“Harry lost his security case in court and is now trying to get what he wants through emotional blackmail instead, cynically using the threat that Archie and Lilibet will never see their grandfather again as a tactic to force the king to overthrow RAVEC,” the friend said.
“The idea that security forces would allow the Sussexes to be attacked on British soil by an acid-throwing or knife-wielding madman is absurd and Harry knows it,” continued the friend, who knows several generations of royals. “To use it as leverage, as a reason to keep his children away from their grandfather, is beyond contempt.”
“Charles is being treated for a very serious form of cancer, so even if he found the time, he can't just spontaneously fly to Los Angeles like Harry can – and actually did earlier this year – in the other direction,” the friend concluded.
The friend is referring to Harry flying from California to London in February to go to Charles after the royal publicly announced he had been diagnosed with cancer. Harry's representatives briefed the media on his trip, and the Duke himself told ABC News he got on a plane “as quickly as I could.”
“Look, I love my family,” Harry stressed. “The fact that I was able to get on a plane and visit him and spend time with him, I'm grateful for that.”
But because it seems, Harry stayed in London for lower than 24 hours and only had the prospect to see his father for 30 to 45 minutes. A palace official told the Daily Mail that the 75-year-old royal was “tired” from his cancer treatment. Another royal expert said Charles was probably still “very angry” with Harry.
When Harry travelled to London in May to attend the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games, Charles made lower than quarter-hour to see him. While Harry's spokesperson issued a press release saying there have been scheduling conflicts between the 2 men, the statement also specifically referred to the royal's “other priorities” – suggesting his son is hurt. Royal observers felt Harry had been “snubbed” by his father, and journalist and writer Richard Kay said the connection between Harry and his father appeared “more strained than ever”.
Now it’s questionable whether Archie and Lilibet will ever meet their grandfather, which prompted the old family friend to say: “I wonder how these children will feel when they are older and are denied a meaningful relationship with the King of England.”
“To deny them this experience with all its significance and legacy seems very misguided,” the friend said. “Of course (Charles) wants to see it.”
The last time Charles saw Archie and Lilibet was during Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. The royal has said he just isn’t content to only get to know his grandchildren, who live in California, via video calls. A source told British tabloid The Mirror: “The royal is absolutely determined to be present in the lives of all his grandchildren.”
Another royal family friend, a up to date of William and Harry, told the Daily Beast that Harry had previously threatened to disclaim his father access to his children after the king told him and Meghan they’d have to present up Frogmore Cottage, near Windsor Castle, because they now not lived in England and barely visited. “One of his statements was that Charles would never see the children again,” the friend said. “Now he's making that threat public.”
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