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Prince Harry has had “minimal contact” with his brother, William, since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth but there has been a “pattern” of regular conversations between Harry and Charles, the journalist Omid Scobie, who has on occasion acted as a de facto spokesperson for Harry and Meghan Markle, said Wednesday.
Scobie also said Harry always intended to come to the coronation but wasn’t sure if he would be invited.
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The journalist, who penned a sympathetic biography of the couple, Finding Freedom, and is known to have excellent contacts within the Sussex organization, said: “Obviously this is the first time he has seen his family face to face since the release of [Harry’s memoir] Spare. But I don’t think people know there has been a somewhat regular pattern of conversation between him and his father since the release of that book.”
Scobie said that while they had not “discussed the details and the points that he wanted to go into,” Harry “has had contact with his dad.”
Scobie said Harry had spoken to his father about their eviction from Frogmore cottage, saying “They lose the keys to that any week now, and he would have spoken to his father about that.”
Asked about the relationship with William, Scobie said: “There has been minimal contact since the queen’s funeral.”
The Daily Beast recently reported that Harry and William had not spoken and that William now “hates” Harry because of what he has said about William and his family.
Scobie dismissed claims that Meghan had decided not to attend the coronation due to it being on the same day as son Archie’s birthday, saying she was instead motivated by a desire not to overshadow proceedings.
He sad: “She is aware just how much of the spotlight goes on her when she sets even a foot near the story. It’s portrayed as intentional. Should she come over and just stand next to her husband, the commentary and the narrative of the day would have been very different… If you look back at some of Harry and Meghan’s biggest problems, it was all down to the fact that the attention was always on them at times when it shouldn’t have been.”
Harry added that the Sussexes “had to wait for some time to really get the confirmation whether they were 100 percent welcome at this event,” but said that “for Harry there was certainly no question about [attending]. Ultimately he is fifth in line to the throne. He is a councillor of state. There is a serious constitutional reason for him to be here, and he takes that seriously, even though he’s not a working member of the royal family.”
