CHARLES TAKES CHARGE
His next bold move
He’s still grieving the loss of his father and hurting from comments made in his youngest son’s bombshell TV interview. But now the time has come for Prince Charles to take charge and make changes that will forever reshape the royal family.
And that may include completely ditching Prince
Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, from The Firm and closing the door on any opportunities for them to ever return as senior working royals.
Charles has long made it clear that he believes the royal family needs “streamlining” to cut costs. He has already been taking steps towards a slimmed down monarchy – including 10 years ago orchestrating the removal of security from his nieces, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who aren’t working royals.
But the death of his father Prince Philip has given new urgency to the plans to change how the royal family operates, and could mean Harry and Meghan are cut loose for good. And the ongoing tension between the Sussexes and the rest of their family may make that a lot easier for Charles to do.
Royal biographer Angela Levin says Charles, 72, and his eldest son and heir, Prince William, will be holding in-depth discussions into the future of the monarchy that could have a big impact on Harry and Meghan. While the Queen has been keen to keep extended family members – like her cousins the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester – on board for “sentimental reasons”, Charles won’t hesitate to make sweeping changes when it comes to revamping the royals and their responsibilities.
“Charles has wanted for a very long time to cut the monarchy down and make people be worth the money that they get from the taxpayer. I imagine that might be when Harry and Meghan are ditched from being members of the royal family.”
They have already lost their patronages, but whether that could mean losing their titles remains to be seen. A palace source revealed that after the Oprah Winfrey interview screened, there were discussions among staff about the possibility of stripping Harry, 36, of his dukedom. “It has never been done before, but there are people who think it is both feasible and desirable.”
Charles has not only been hurt by what Harry and Meghan, 39, said about him in the interview – including that he refused to take his son’s calls – but is infuriated by private details that have been leaked to US media. These have included People magazine claiming Meghan and her 23-month-old son Archie held a Zoom call with the Queen before Philip’s funeral, and CBS news anchor Gayle King – who is Oprah’s best friend – telling viewers that talks held between Charles and his sons after the bombshell interview “were not productive”.
Royal author Phil Dampier
says, “One of Charles and also William’s big fears is that whatever discussions they have with Harry are immediately leaked. They’ll be worried that if they get into any great detail, the next thing they know it will be out in the public domain, which makes it extremely difficult to heal wounds long-term.”
Charles’ lack of trust in his son means when the opportunity arose to talk face-to-face after Philip’s funeral, he would only do it with other people around because he did not want anything he said to be “misconstrued”. So he made sure both William,
38, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, were there for a meeting with Harry at his UK home, Frogmore Cottage. Kate, 39, had acted as a peacemaker by beginning a conversation with Harry outside St George’s Chapel, and then dropping back when William and Harry started talking to each other.
But it seems even her best
attempts to help her husband and brother-in-law heal their rift have fallen flat. There were no further talks after that initial conversation and Harry returned almost immediately to the US.
“It seemed like such a missed opportunity to try to sort things out for once and all,” says a royal commentator. “This was everyone’s chance to deal with a situation that is obviously causing a great deal of angst, at a time when the importance of family must have been foremost in everyone’s minds.
“They may well regret not having seized the moment to properly start the healing process.”
Journalist Omid Scobie, who co-authored the book Finding Freedom about Harry and Meghan, and is said to be friends with the pair, says sources close to Harry told him in-depth talks hadn’t been held because mourning Philip took precedence.
“[The talks after the funeral] broke the ice for further conversations, but outstanding issues have not been addressed at any great length. The family simply put their issues to one side to focus on what mattered.”
But other insiders say one of the reasons Harry may have left so quickly was that he was deeply shocked by the frosty reception he received from several members of his extended family.
“Harry was barely acknowledged by certain people, including Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, before or during Philip’s funeral service,” says the source.
“There is a deep sense of protection towards the Queen and resentment towards Harry. There is little sympathy for him after what he and Meghan said on Oprah. Some royals are still very upset and are putting on a united front for the Queen. They think he has behaved appallingly.”
The cold-shoulder he received may have jeopardised future chances of reconciliation. Harry is due to travel back to the UK in July for the unveiling of a statue to his late mother, Princess Diana, but now those plans are under a cloud.
Royal writer Russell Myers says, “I’m told he is still committed to coming.
Certainly Kate and William will welcome him if he wants to come back. But some quarters of the family did give him a frosty reception and one may wonder, if his wife has just had a baby, if he uses that as a convenient excuse so he doesn’t have to come back and face the family.
“I don’t think we will realise the full fallout of that Oprah Winfrey interview for
some time.”