King Charles' relationship with Prince Harry has been fractured since he and Meghan Markle announced they would be stepping down as senior members of the royal family back in March 2020.
Subsequently, the release of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docu-series Harry & Meghan and the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare have only widened the gap between father and son.
Surprisingly, however, it seems that despite Harry revealing many private family secrets and even labelling his father King Charles as unaffectionate and unable to communicate with him during his childhood years – the monarch would be open to a reconciliation with his youngest son.
Speaking to the hosts of HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast, royal author Robert Hardman – who this week published a new royal book, Charles III New King. New Court. The Inside Story – revealed that the 75-year-old King would “definitely” like to reconcile with Harry.
Listen to the podcast below to find out what qualities King Charles has that will enable a reunion and why, despite being open to mending their relationship, “certain things” are still “non-negotiable”.
LISTEN: King Charles is open to a reconciliation with son Prince Harry
In this special podcast episode, Robert also touches upon the drama that unfolded after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle named their daughter Lilibet after Queen Elizabeth II, and clarifies what really angered the Queen - and it wasn't the name itself.
“The Queen adored Harry, right to the end, and Harry adored her. She met Lilibet and loves her granddaughter, that was not an issue,” Robert told hosts Andrea Caamano and Emmy Griffiths, along with HELLO!’s royal editor Emily Nash.
“What was at issue was the handling of the story that came after the naming of Lilibet. And it was the way in which the Sussexes put out a statement saying the Queen had been entirely supportive of the name, and it was largely stated that she had given them her blessing."
He continues: "This was followed by a BBC report saying that the Queen had not given her blessing... then you had the situation where you had the Sussexes firing off legal letters to the BBC and others, and more or less demanding the palace corroborate their version of events.
"And that's when the real anger kicked in – because you don't start telling the Queen, 'Say you said this'. It was the handling of the naming row rather than the naming."