It’s set to be a defining moment in the King’s reign – repairing the fractured bond between the US and the UK with his Stateside visit to meet with Donald Trump amid the tensions of war in the Middle East.
But closer to home, there’s another high-stakes relationship that’s also in desperate need of fixing – the one with his son Prince Harry and his grandkids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
With Charles, 77, and the Queen, 78, due to arrive in the US this week for a four-day state visit, which takes in Washington DC, New York and Virginia, palace sources say he is forgoing seeing his son after Harry’s controversial “fake royal tour” of Australia.x
Charles is unimpressed by Harry’s latest remarks
Our insiders tell us the monarch was “unimpressed” by the Oz trip, which ripped up the infamous agreement made at the Sandringham Summit on 13 January 2020. The late Queen Elizabeth deemed then that there could be “no half in, half out” when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit royal life to relocate to the US.
Adding insult to injury, Charles is unhappy with a series of pointed remarks Harry, 41, made about royal life. During his paid appearance at the InterEdge Summit in Melbourne, the prince revealed he never wanted to be a working royal, linking his reluctance to the loss of his mother, Princess Diana.’
‘I never wanted this role.’
He told the crowd, “After my mum died, just before my 13th birthday, I was like, ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want this role. Wherever this is headed, I don’t like it.’ It killed my mum and I was very much against it.”
He also said he wanted to be an “upgrade” of his father’s parenting and credited therapy with helping him to “cleanse himself of the past”.
According to royal insiders, the comments rankled Charles and any planned reunion is now off the cards.
Harry’s ‘heartbreaking’ plea for his children
“Harry can’t wrap his head around the fact that their grandfather is going to be on the same turf and he can’t take even a half-day out of his schedule to see them,” one palace source spills.
“It’s impossible for him to not take this personally – his heart is breaking for them. “Harry knows the stakes are high for the US and UK on this trip, but in his mind, that makes it even more urgent that Archie and Lilibet see their grandfather. What if the UK and US go to war, and there’s a frontline between them?”
It’s been almost four years since the King saw Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, which Harry desperately wants to change.
A ‘red line’ that could end it all
“He may regret it, but he told Charles that not seeing Archie and Lilibet on this trip will be a red line,” claims our insider.
“It will seal the deal on the breakdown of their relationship and there won’t be any going back. It may be the last chance Charles ever gets to see them. “Charles doesn’t take kindly to ultimatums and Harry’s given him more than a few. He was considering a slight detour to California after the White House dinner, but not after Harry and Meghan’s cash-grab Australian tour. He’s in the middle of peacemaking between two countries, and he can’t risk being dragged into a Meghan and Harry drama.”
