‘Absolutely disgusted’: Major blow to Prince Harry peace talks
A sit-down meeting between King Charles and Prince Harry is in jeopardy after Prince William stepped in with a scathing reproach to the so-called ‘peace talks’.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hopes of “peace talks” between King Charles and Prince Harry have been dashed by an “absolutely disgusted” Prince William.
After royal sources said a sit-down meeting between the father and son was planned for September, insiders close to the Prince of Wales stepped in to dispel claims the prodigal son would be welcomed back into the royal embrace.
“No chance,” a friend of Prince William said, pointing to the last peace summit at the funeral of Prince Philip, which became the opening scene for the biography, Spare.
“Charles won’t be seeing Harry and nor will William,” the friend added to The Daily Beast. “He feels utterly betrayed by what Harry wrote about him in the book and said about him on Netflix.”
Prince Harry called his once-close brother an “arch-nemesis” in the opening chapters of Spare, adding that “Willy in particular didn’t want to hear anything” during the graveyard meeting.
Sources within the House of Wales said the heir feels utterly “betrayed” by the spare.
“They were very close growing up so it has been very painful for William. But ultimately what can he do? Just look at Spare. It’s literally William’s worst nightmare. It is a total violation of his privacy,” they said.
“On top of that, Harry has criticised Kate and the way he is bringing up his children. It’s very, very sad. I think it is completely understandable that right now William is still absolutely disgusted by what his brother has done.”
A friend of the King confirmed to the Beast that the so-called peace talks were not happening, while adding that the “door is always open to Harry”.
“But I don’t think they will be meeting on Sept. 17. The king will be preparing for the state visit to France.”
PRINCE HARRY PEACE TALKS DATE SET
Royal sources said the talks are planned for September 17 after King Charles returns to London from his traditional summer at Balmoral and Prince Harry departs Germany after the completion of the Invictus Games.
“King Charles is due to return to London from Balmoral in the middle of September which ties with the end of Harry’s Invictus Games trip to Dusseldorf,” a royal source told OK! magazine in the UK.
“The King has a rescheduled official visit to France on September 20 so has a few days to spare in London to meet with his son. Staff are trying to finetune the details as we speak.”
In the meeting, King Charles “will make it very clear that there will be absolutely no private family business discussed in public moving forward,” as he was “mortally wounded” by what his son said publicly about the royal family.
Royal insiders hope the pair can finally thaw ongoing tensions between the Sussexes and the royal family, following the release of Prince Harry’s explosive memoir, Spare, where he slammed his father, Prince William and Queen Camilla and the subsequent release of his and Ms Markle’s Netflix docuseries where they again took pot shots at the monarchy.
The royal source told the outlet that King Charles is understood to have been particularly upset by the claims his son made in Spare regarding Queen Camilla, who Prince Harry wrote “had sacrificed me on her personal PR altar”.
“If the talks take place, the King will make it very clear that there will be absolutely no private family business discussed in public moving forward,” the source told OK!
Queen Camilla was “hurt” by Prince Harry’s book, in which she was described as “dangerous” and a “villain”, according to one of her closest friends.
“Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts,” Fiona, the Marchioness of Lansdowne – who was one of the Queen’s official companions at the King’s Coronation, told the Sunday Times.
“But she doesn’t let it get to her. Her philosophy is always, ‘Don’t make a thing of it and it will settle down – least said, soonest mended.’”
Although Ms Markle will attend some of the Invictus Games, the source said it was “highly unlikely” that she would be involved in any talks that take place between father and son.
Earlier this year, other royal insiders said that a reconciliation between Prince Harry, Prince William and their father is not out of the question.
“It’s fixable,” they told The Times.
“Both sides need to hold their hands up and admit ‘we didn’t get everything right, and we got a lot wrong’ … It’s going to take flexibility on all sides, but it can be done.
“It needs Harry over here, in the room with the King and Prince of Wales, a couple of other family members, some of ‘his people’ he trusts who always had his back, so he doesn’t think he’s being ambushed.”
Prince William, however, might be a tougher nut to crack, for Prince Harry.
In his memoir, Prince Harry detailed deeply personal fights between the brothers, even accusing the Prince of Wales of pushing him.
He detailed text message exchanges between his wife and Princess Catherine during their now infamous bridesmaid dress argument and accused the future King and Queen of encouraging him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005.
But the source told OK! Magazine that Prince William could reconcile with his brother if he sees it as best for the future of the monarchy.
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Absolutely disgusted’: Major blow to Prince Harry peace talks
Read related topics:Prince Harry