Inside the Total Collapse of Harry and Charles’ Relationship

Prince Harry and King Charles III relationship has completely collapsed over Harry’s belief that his father is denying him automatic police protection in the U.K.

A source close to Harry said the two are no longer speaking by phone and laid the blame for the “unbelievable situation” around Harry being denied automatic police security in the U.K. despite a “very real threat” firmly at the feet of the king, adding, “If the king wanted, he could do this for his son.”

However, official sources at Buckingham Palace told The Daily Beast that it would be “wholly inappropriate” for the king to pull rank and attempt to influence the government committee, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC), which makes decisions about royals’ personal protection. They added that these decisions were now a matter for the courts, as Harry was litigating the matter.

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The raw, vituperative, and highly personal nature of the comments on both sides are the latest sign of a catastrophic breakdown in trust between Harry and his birth family, with sources adding that Charles is currently refusing to take Harry’s phone calls.

Harry was stripped by RAVEC of the right to automatic police protection when he quit the working royal family.

Currently, to obtain security, Harry is required, like any other high-profile visitor seeking police protection, to give 28 days notice to the British security forces of his intention to visit the U.K., list locations he intends to visit, and present a detailed itinerary of his plans. He can use private security but private guards cannot be armed. He has offered to pay for the cost of police protection, but the offer was rebuffed by the British government, which said the police are not available for private hire.

He took the matter to court and has repeatedly lost his cases, costing him in excess of a million dollars, but he has been granted one final appeal which will be heard later this year.

A royal source this week told The Daily Beast the current set-up suited the royals “down to the ground” as it prevented Harry from making regular visits—and setting up a rival royal court in the U.K.

Harry’s camp accuse Charles’ team of gaslighting the public by saying on one hand that the king loves his son and wants to see more of him and his children, while at the same time denying him the police protection that would make such visits possible on a regular basis.

They also point to Charles evicting Harry from Frogmore Cottage, the home given to Harry and wife Meghan Markle by the late Queen Elizabeth II, where he and his family would have had automatic police protection by virtue of being inside the Windsor estate bubble. The house currently stands empty. It has been earmarked for Prince Andrew but he is refusing to move into it.

The source said: “The evidence is there, clearly, for everyone to see. He has been kicked out of the home that would have made it possible for him to come back on a regular basis.”

However, a source in Charles’ camp, apparently referring to the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, questioned “how the U.K. presents more of a threat to the duke’s security than the U.S., where even the best-protected individual in the land can still find themselves subject to attack from individuals using weapons that can be acquired over the counter.”

But Harry’s ally told The Daily Beast: “The threat is very real. He needs protection. The idea that the security forces wouldn’t allow anything to happen is a very glib dismissal of the reality of the threat the family faces.”

The source dismissed allegations made by friends of the king to The Daily Beast this week that Harry was using his kids to “emotionally blackmail” the king into intervening with RAVEC.

The source said, “Why would he bring his wife and children back to the U.K. if they are not going to be protected? The duke needs protection, they need protection. The threat level hasn’t changed since he stepped back from the royal family, if anything it has got worse because of the tabloid campaign against him and his wife.”

Harry made this very point himself in a televised interview last week, saying that his wife Meghan Markle could not safely return to the U.K., and that he feared her being the target of an acid or knife attack triggered by negative tabloid coverage of her.

Asked why they thought Harry was being denied protection, which has the effect of restricting his ability to visit the UK, the source said: “It’s about control.”

Buckingham Palace did not want to comment, but a royal source told The Daily Beast that security provision was not in the gift of the king and added that Harry’s suit had been “examined forensically” by the courts and rejected.

They added, “For the king himself to attempt to intervene directly in this process in any way would be wholly inappropriate.”

They said Harry was provided “with a bespoke security package when he visits the U.K., with each visit subject to a rigorous and appropriate review process conducted by RAVEC.”

However, the Sussex source said: “The fact that there is even any debate around (Harry’s) security is unbelievable when you look at the situation. The late queen made it really clear [at the Sandringham summit] that she wanted him and his family protected. She intervened to allow Andrew to keep his protection. Why is it impossible for his dad not to do the same for Harry? If the king wanted, he could do this for his son.”