Prince Charles and Meghan’s bond is broken forever

When Prince Charles walked Meghan Markle down the aisle, it set off a chain reaction that’s still being felt by the royal family today.

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Prince Charles is not a man known for his smile. His philandering, yes; his signet ring twiddling, tick; his oh-so-relatable penchant for 15th century architecture, sure. But flashing his pearly whites in joy? Not so much.

Which is what makes his star turn during son Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018 so extraordinary. There he was smiling as he walked her up the aisle, grinning happily during the service and looking pleased as punch on the steps of St George’s Chapel as, arm-in-arm, he escorted both wife Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and the bride’s mother Doria Ragland out into the spring sunshine.

Clearly, Harry and Meghan’s wedding day was a particularly jubilant one for the then 69-year-old.

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Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle on her wedding day. Picture: Jonathan Brady/AFP

Charles looked delighted as he escorted Meghan’s mum Doria out of the church. Picture: Brian Lawless/WPA Pool/Getty Images

However while forests have probably been razed since then to create the millions of British newspapers devoted to the couple’s stunning rise and fall in the British public’s good graces (and Harry’s fallout with brother Prince William) one relationship has come in for far less scrutiny – that of Meghan and Charles.

Because while a good two billion (seriously) sets of eyes were on them as they made the walk to the altar in Windsor, what came next has been a story that has involved millions of pounds, a family rift of historic proportions and repercussions that could even imperil the crown.

What is particularly sad here is that things got off to such a stellar start for the unlikely duo.

Prince Charles charges in to the rescue

Back in 2018, not long after the big day, reports began to surface over how swimmingly Prince Charles and the former actress were getting on.

“They have bonded over art, history and culture … The Prince believes she is ‘incredibly smart’ and, having been trained by the Hollywood machine, is uniquely equipped to cope with the endlessly scrutinised life of a royal,” Harry biographer Angela Levin wrote at the time.

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Meghan and her father-in-law appeared to have a special bond. Picture: Richard Pohle/AFP

That same year, Vanity Fair revealed that Charles and the Sussexes had enjoyed a week-long summer break at the Scottish Castle of Mey and that he was building a “lovely relationship with the Duchess”.

“Charles has been very supportive of Meghan,” a source told biographer Katie Nicholl. “He’s got a real soft spot for her and thinks she’s the best thing to have happened to Harry.”

Such was the Prince’s esteem for Meghan he nicknamed her ‘Tungsten’. A palace source told the Daily Mail: “Prince Charles admires Meghan for her strength and the backbone she gives Harry, who needs a tungsten-type figure in his life as he can be a bit of a softie. It’s become a term of endearment.”

Charles’ support of the Sussexes extended to getting out his Coutts chequebook.

According to the Evening Standard, it was the Prince who reportedly “paid out a small fortune for their wedding,” a glitzy shindig that involved a glass marquee, bespoke cocktails and fireworks.

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Charles reportedly paid for Meghan and Harry’s ritzy wedding. Picture: Steve Parsons/WPA Pool/Getty Images

The same year, when they made the choice to eschew the 21-room Kensington Palace apartment which had been made available to them for the decidedly rundown Frogmore Cottage, a move that would necessitate a pricey renovation, it was Charles who reportedly helped foot the bill to the tune of “hundreds of thousands of pounds” out of his private income to furnish the home.

The full extent of the future King’s largesse towards both the Sussexes and the Cambridges is there in black and white thanks to the annual publication of the Duchy of Cornwall’s accounts, the most recent set of which showed he funded his sons and their families to the combined total of just over $10 million in the year to March 31, 2020.

Based on Harry and Meghan’s recent Oprah Winfrey TV interview, that generosity came to a crashing halt when they moved away from the UK, with the Duke of Sussex saying that his father cut him off.

Harry and Meghan during their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Picture: CBS

The consequences for Charles of Harry and Meghan’s marriage go beyond the hit his bank accounts might have taken.

A new poll out this week has found nearly half of Britons (47 per cent) want Prince William to succeed his grandmother, thereby skipping over Charles. Only a paltry 5 per cent of British 18 to 24-year-olds are keen on the septuagenarian water colour enthusiast ruling next.

This shift in sentiment owes a debt to the turmoil and drama surrounding Megxit and their prime time denouement in which they cast the royal family as both callously indifferent to her suffering and of racism.

During the interview, Meghan told the talk show queen that one unnamed member of the royal family had raised “concerns” over the skin colour of their unborn child in 2019. The following day Winfrey confirmed that Harry had later told her the Windsor in question was neither the Queen nor Prince Philip, thus leaving people to debate whether Charles might be the possible guilty party. (Lady Colin Campbell later claimed it was Princess Anne.)

It’s hard to see how Charles and Meghan’s relationship can go back after what’s happened over the past 12 months. Picture: Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Sussexes’ exit has, for many younger Brits, only made the royal house and the notion of a hereditary sovereign seen even more moribund and useless, a fading relic of a time and culture that many would rather leave behind.

Trying to counter that shift is a job that Charles, set to turn 73 this year, seems totally unqualified to address.

In deciding they wanted out, the Duke and Duchess cast a spotlight on the cracks in the monarchical edifice, highlighting the inadequacies of The Firm and therefore making Charles’ future promotion much, much harder.

What Harry and Meghan coincidentally achieved when they swanned off into the Californian sunset is to change the climate. The reception which King Charles III will receive one day may very well be a far colder one than he might have gotten in a world where Megxit did not happen.

As we approach the third anniversary next month of Harry and Meghan’s wedding, and Charles’ stellar day of grinning, what is marked is how the ripple effect of their union has impacted his regal fortunes (and real fortunes too).

“There’s power in love; don’t underestimate it,” American Bishop Michael Curry said in his sermon on the big day.

The lesson for Charles since then has been yes, there is indeed great power in love – power which can’t be controlled and power which can set off a chain reaction no one can control.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.