Much has been written about the Windsors, and on November 7, 2024, yet another book will be released—” Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story.” Robert Hardman unveils the secrets of the royal court in this book. In it, he addresses many sensitive issues for the monarch, including his relationships with the ‘problematic Dukes’—his younger son, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and his brother, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, reported The Daily Mail.
Prince Harry has long distanced himself from his family, and while the King initially hoped the situation might improve, he no longer holds that hope. Since his ascension to the throne, matters have only worsened; His Majesty now understands—they will no longer be a family.
The last time the father and son spoke was when it became known that the King had been diagnosed with cancer. Charles III called each family member personally to share the news. The next day, Harry was back in the United Kingdom.
“I jumped on a plane and flew to him as soon as I could,” the Duke told an American interviewer a week after the event. “I love my family. I’m grateful I could get on a plane, go to him, and spend some time with him.”
The monarch postponed his engagements to see his son at Clarence House. The meeting was brief—less than an hour—and no statements were made afterward. Surprisingly, the Sussexes, who usually put everything on public display, also stayed silent.
“He has always had iron discipline and didn’t want to interfere in the Sussexes’ affairs,” the book states. “But it takes a tremendous effort to do nothing when you’re being criticized.”
However, by May 2024, it became clear that this short meeting was not a step toward reconciliation; quite the opposite. It seems that the dialogue didn’t go as planned. Since then, His Majesty has been avoiding his son. When Prince Harry returned to the United Kingdom a few months later for the Invictus Games, no meeting with his father took place.
The Palace officially stated that the monarch’s schedule was too busy to make time for a meeting. Moreover, Prince Harry was not even offered accommodation at Buckingham Palace and stayed in a hotel instead.
Now, in his book, Robert Hardman reveals that while the King declined to meet with his son, he did make time to meet with footballer David Beckham at his home in Highgrove.
The real reason for the estrangement between father and son—though unspoken by either side—is rooted in money.
“I recognized the absurdity, a man in his mid-30s being cut off by my father,” Harry lamented in his autobiography, Spare. “But Pa was not just my father. He was my boss, my banker, my controller, the keeper of the purse strings throughout my adult life.”
Another reason is that the King is caught between two fires. If he starts negotiations with his younger son, he risks jeopardizing his relationship with his elder, Prince William.
Sources at Buckingham Palace note that if the parties are to sit down at the negotiation table, it will only be as a trio. However, with the King’s illness and Kate Middleton’s current health issues, concerns about the younger family member are not a priority at the moment.
The third reason lies in the fact that the Duke of Sussex has been engaged in a legal dispute with the British government since 2020 over the decision to reduce his security level after moving to the United States, and this creates particular problems for the King as a ‘source of justice.’
‘Furthermore, Harry publishes reports of private conversations, some of which have been, shall we say, wrong,” notes a constitutional expert.
So a possible reconciliation is a difficult process, and the issue of trust will need to be addressed.
The book also claims that the monarch has stripped his brother, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, of annual funding amounting to £1 million. Additionally, it states that the King no longer covers the costs of Andrew’s expensive private security.