Nonsense! Charles’s fury over rift claims
PRINCE Charles has rubbished rumours of a relationship breakdown with sons William and Harry.
Well placed Palace insiders say reports that the Prince of Wales suffers from “hot and cold” contact with his sons have been dismissed as “complete nonsense”.
One of the co-authors of Finding Freedom, the explosive biography about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who are believed to have co-operated extensively with the book, has made repeated statements about the princes’ relationship with their father.
This week Omid Scobie, royal reporter for US magazine Harper’s Bazaar, claimed Charles may have “quietly supported” Meghan’s decision to sue the owner of The Mail On Sunday over reproducing parts of a letter she wrote to her father.
However, he would not go public with that support.
Meghan is claiming her father’s decision to make the 2018 letter public breached her privacy, copyright and data protection rights.
Mr Scobie told the True Royalty TV channel: “What I found time and time again, his sympathy for the couple was often there (but) he was almost too afraid to voice it or take it any further. He quietly supported Harry and Meghan’s decision to sue the Mail on Sunday over the letter – but did he publicly support them? No absolutely not.
“As a future king it’s important for him to have a very healthy relationship with the press.”
But Palace sources close to the future king say the claims are “wholly untrue”.
A source continued: “Not only is this book incredibly one-sided for various gripes from Harry and Meghan, claims of breakdowns in a relationship with his father and him supporting their various legal cases are entirely false.”
The book, which has had mixed reviews in the UK, also claims Charles’s official 70th birthday photograph, which shows three generations of the royals laughing and joking, was a “nightmare” to plan because of the various tensions.
Palace insiders described the claims as “poppycock”.
Harry and Meghan recently paid £14million for a home in upmarket Montecito, California, reportedly taking out a £7.25million mortgage.
The book’s claims that Harry took the Queen to task over Meghan’s wedding tiara have also been disputed. Mr Scobie detailed how Harry called the Queen to complain about her right-hand woman Angela Kelly being deliberately obstructive.
Harry, 35, was convinced his wife was being snubbed.
Royal insiders called Harry “passionate” but it was “hard to fathom” such a call to the Queen.
A senior palace source refuted reports of Ms Kelly being obstructive: “Angela Kelly has been one of the Queen’s most trusted aides for nearly two decades and any insinuation she was ever anything less than dedicated and dutiful in her role prior to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding is fanciful.”
Both the Palace and Clarence House have declined to comment.