After he and wife Meghan Markle dramatically quit their royal roles, Prince Harry railed against his relatives in his Netflix series and memoir, Spare – and one royal expert said this has had deep consequences
From the tell-all Oprah interview to the controversial Netflix series and bombshell memoir, Prince Harry has certainly been vocal about his royal relatives.
After he and wife Meghan Markle dramatically quit their royal roles and moved to the United States, they railed against members of the Firm, in particular King Charles and Prince William. In the Netflix series, Harry criticised his family for not being welcoming and warm to Meghan when they first started dating.
Then in Spare, he claimed that his brother pushed him to the floor during an altercation when a row boiled over. However, it has been reported that Harry made comments about his family in private too – leaving a former pal ‘disgusted’.
Meanwhile, when it comes to Harry and his brother William, The Sunday Times reports it is understood the brothers last spoke at their grandmother the late Queen’s funeral in September 2022 – and even then, according to Harry’s memoir, they “barely exchanged a word”.
The publication reports that William is unlikely to forgive his younger brother any time soon for his digs against wife Kate in Spare with friends telling the newspaper as things stand, the Prince of Wales would not want Harry at his Coronation, whenever that time comes. The pair did come face to face in August when both attended the funeral of their late uncle Lord Robert Fellowes in Norfolk. However, those at the service say the pair kept their distance and did not speak to each other.
Also earlier this year, sources claimed that Harry and the King are no longer speaking with one long-running issue seeing their estrangement deepen. Sources close to the Sussexes have now claimed that Harry’s calls to his dad are going unanswered as Harry tries to discuss his security arrangements with his father. The Duke has been embroiled in a long-running battle over his security when he comes to the UK after he automatically lost the right to his police protection when he stepped down as a working royal.
He has lost his subsequent court battles to have it reinstated for him, wife Meghan and their two children and is planning an appeal. According to PEOPLE magazine, Harry believes his dad could help to have this reinstated, although this has been dismissed as “wholly inaccurate” by a palace source.
And now a friend of Harry’s told the magazine: “He gets ‘unavailable right now’. His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.” While another friend added: “Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father,” while another source added: “Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs.”
Harry took legal action over the February 2020 decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) which ruled he would no longer be given the “same degree” of publicly-funded protection when in the country. Ravec’s decision came as a result of a change in the duke’s ‘status’ after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the royal family “, a judge was told.
In February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case that he was “singled out” and treated “less favourably” by the decision and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. After the ruling, a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement that the Duke “hopes to obtain justice from the Court of Appeal”.
