Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be kept at a “distance” by King Charles and Prince William for the foreseeable future, sources have told The Daily Beast.
One source, a friend of William’s, told The Daily Beast that William and Kate Middleton’s opposition to Charles making frequent concessions to Harry would have to be respected by Charles, after he used the coronation to make a point of emphasizing their joint responsibility with him for the monarchy and its future direction.
Harry attended the coronation, leaving immediately afterward to return to California so he could be home in time for his son Prince Archie’s 4th birthday. It is not known if he communicated with Charles or William while in the U.K., though he did reportedly stop at Buckingham Palace en route to Heathrow Airport. At a private family event after the ceremony, Charles toasted birthday boy Archie “wherever he was.”
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On Tuesday, the day after the coronation celebrations formally ended, it was William and Kate who were the frontmen at a Buckingham Palace garden party for 5,000 people that Charles and Camilla did not attend. They are vastly more popular than the new king and queen.
The friend of William’s said, “It’s very clear that William and Kate are now extremely important members of the institution, so their view on Harry, which is basically the further away the better, will have to be taken into account. Put it this way: I don’t think anyone expects Harry to get an invite to William’s coronation.”
Harry excoriated William and Kate in his memoir, Spare. In one section he blamed them for encouraging him to wear a Nazi uniform to a costume party 18 years ago. The book also featured an account of a physical fight between the adult brothers, in which Harry said he was knocked to the ground, breaking a dog bowl.
Sources have told The Daily Beast that William feels completely betrayed by his brother revealing his secrets and now “hates” Harry. Sources have told The Daily Beast he was particularly angered by Harry’s retelling the Nazi uniform story in such a way as to implicate him and Kate.
A friend of Charles and Camilla told The Daily Beast that the “opportunity” and “pressure” for a solution to the feud that the prospect of the coronation had presented had now elapsed. The friend said: “The opportunity that was there for Harry to sort this out with the king is gone for now. Of course, Charles would always welcome a reconciliation with Harry and Meghan, he has made that very clear, and his door is always open in that regard. But now the coronation is done, I think Charles will want to focus on the job of being king, rather than to continue being distracted by Harry and Meghan drama.”
Asked if Charles was more willing to hit pause on the goal of reconciling with the Sussexes now that he didn’t “need” them at the coronation, the friend of the king said: “He’s not that cynical. But having Harry there was very important for him so, yes, there was pressure there. But he is immensely hurt by what Harry has done in the films and books, and Harry clearly feels aggrieved too, so I think a bit of distance now will suit everyone.”
Of course, Harry has made it very clear that he feels he has nothing to apologize for and strongly believes that the royals owe him and Meghan an apology for the way they were treated with, he says, less respect than William and Kate. In his book Harry complained that William got nicer apartments and houses in various palaces than him, said that Meghan was the victim of unconscious bias and that she was ignored when she asked for help saying she was suicidal. He also said his family and their offices colluded with the press to misrepresent him and Meghan.
Harry has made it quite clear that he feels no desire to rush into a resolution with his father and brother. He told one interviewer, Tom Bradby, that the “ball [was] in their court” when it came to reconciliation.
The offices of William, the king, and Harry all declined to respond to requests by The Daily Beast for comment for this article.
