Prince Harry will most likely never be a working royal again. Meanwhile, reports suggest that he misses his old home country and all those he left, but as the situation stands now, the Duke will have a hard time getting all that back if he’d like.
The relationship with the royals, including his father, King Charles, is at the bottom, and a reunion seems very far away. At the same time, Harry and Meghan are continuing their travels abroad, which some have called “royal tours,” which hasn’t made the royal family happy.
The reports about Harry and Charles’ positions differ greatly. However, what seems very clear is that the estranged Duke wants an apology from his family, which he most likely won’t get. While the monarch is reportedly furious about his son’s behavior, one expert now claims that King Charles could get his perfect revenge on Harry—which would be a big one.
King Charles and Prince Harry’s troubled relationship goes back a long way. The monarch reportedly joked and said he was sad Harry wasn’t a girl when he was born. As the Duke grew up, some things still bothered him about his father.
Prince Harry claimed King Charles ‘didn’t hug’ him after his mother’s death
In his book Spare, Harry recalled the moment he found out about his mother, Princess Diana’s, death. Charles gave him the tragic news but didn’t comfort his son.
“There were complications. Mummy was quite badly injured and taken to hospital, darling boy,” Harry recalled his father saying. “He always called me ‘darling boy,’ but he was saying it quite a lot now. His voice was soft. He was in shock, it seemed.
“With a head injury. They tried, darling boy. I’m afraid she didn’t make it.”
The prince further claimed that Charles put his hand on his knee, saying: “It’s going to be OK,” but that he “didn’t hug” him.
“Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing the night my mother died,” Harry stated.
When Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, left the royal family behind, it didn’t take long before they began accusing the Firm of many things. They also revealed several personal details about life inside the royal sphere, which obviously wasn’t appreciated by King Charles, Harry’s brother, Prince William, or any other family member.
Just one day after the book was released, King Charles decided to act and evicted Prince Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage, where they had lived while part of the royal family.
“We can confirm the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage,” a spokesperson for the Sussexes said at the time.
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle were evicted from their UK home
According to royal expert and author Omad Scobie, King Charles was “spitting mad” with Harry’s book, which contributed to evicting the prince. At the time, the relationship between Harry and his family also reached “an all-time low,” Scobie wrote.
Sources close to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle claimed the couple were “stunned” by the decision.
“Harry and Meghan have until early summer to vacate,” a source told Scobie, reporting for Yahoo. “Initially, they were given just weeks, but now they have at least until after the coronation.”
“It all feels very final and like a cruel punishment,” a friend of Harry and Meghan’s added. “It’s like [the family] wants to cut them out of the picture for good.”
King Charles and Harry have only met a handful of times in recent years. The Duke traveled to the UK to visit his father after the cancer diagnosis had been revealed, but during his latest May visit, they didn’t meet.
His father tried his best to make the short stay as pleasant as possible and offered Harry a place to stay at a royal residence. However, Harry declined and chose to stay at a hotel instead.
“It worries me that Prince Harry has deeper-rooted problems”
British royal broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox that Harry’s refusal was “extraordinary behavior.”
“He could have stayed at St. James’ Palace, a stone’s throw away from Clarence House, where the King is usually based,” she told Fox. “Harry turned down staying in a palace, where he would have received armed security protection from the SO14 Royalty Protection Group. He chose to stay at a hotel in Mayfair without this protection.”
“Not only would he have received armed security protection, there is a far higher chance that he would have seen his father.”
Chard concluded, “It worries me that Prince Harry has deeper-rooted problems, most likely related to his mother, as I feel his behavior is beyond strangeard. I am, however, aware that his behavior keeps the victim narrative alive, a narrative which maybe he feels serves a purpose at this time.”
Harry and Meghan are no longer part of the royal family; therefore, they don’t have to go on royal tours abroad. However, earlier this year, the Sussexes embarked on a short trip to Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games, which Harry founded.
The couple was welcomed as royals, and there wasn’t much that looked different from what it would’ve been like if they’d arrived as members of the royal family.
King Charles was “furious” over Harry & Meghan’s Nigeria trip
The visit to Nigeria sparked many reactions in the UK. According to a royal insider speaking with the Mirror, King Charles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton were “furious” with the Sussexes.
Royal expert Tom Quinn told the Mirror that the Prince and Princess of Wales were not only angry with Harry and Meghan Markle, but, he suggested that the couple feared that their nightmare had come true.
“William is absolutely furious and determined to find a way to stop this happening in the future. Charles is said to be angrier than anyone has ever seen him,” Quinn told the Mirror, adding that William is upset that the Nigerians “treated Meghan and Harry as if they too thought this was an official tour.”
“It’s as if Harry and Meghan have gone rogue—their Nigeria trip is a bold statement that they refuse to accept they are no longer working royals. William and Charles are scratching their heads and thinking, ‘How are we going to control this nightmare situation?’”
The royal expert concluded that Harry and Meghan Markle were welcomed in a way that included all the elements of an official royal visit. Quinn said the Sussexes’ speeches in the African country “gave the impression that they are still fully paid-up royals.”
“For Charles and William, it’s as if Meghan and Harry are saying, ‘We don’t need your permission to be working royals – we will do it on our own terms whenever and wherever we like,’” Tom Quinn told the Mirror.
Royal family discussed stripping Harry & Meghan of their titles
King Charles and Prince William might not be able to do anything to stop Harry and Meghan from traveling like, in their opinion, they are royals. However, a new claim suggests that the king has an ace up his sleeve.
According to Tom Quinn, King Charles has been discussing stripping Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their titles.
The Sussexes used their “Duke” and “Duchess” titles, which were labeled on chairs, during their Nigeria trip. Their website also reads “The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan, The Duke & Duchess of Sussex.”
King Charles and Prince William have had “lengthy discussions” about stripping Harry and Meghan of their titles. However, Quinn states that doing it is also a considerable risk.
“They are terrified this would backfire and make the situation worse,” Quinn told the Mirror.
“The last thing they want is to give the renegade royals something else to complain about. William and his father know that even without their royal titles, Meghan and Harry would carry on travelling the world as if they were royals and most people in the world will still welcome them.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s visit to Nigeria wasn’t their last trip of the year. The couple visited Colombia just the previous week, but what the royals thought of that journey is unknown.
King Charles could get ‘big revenge’ on Harry by removing him from the line of succession
No matter what, it certainly seems like Harry has burned all his bridges about making amends with his royal family. If King Charles wants, he could get revenge on Harry moving forward.
Every August, the royal family gathers at Balmoral to spend time together. At the same time, the “royal summit” also includes meetings about what is to come. Per Express, one subject this year was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
A source tells the UK newspaper that discussions were held about removing him from the line of succession.
“The order of succession can be altered by statute if a member of the Royal Family permanently resides outside the UK and no longer undertakes royal duties,” the source told Express. “If that were to happen, Harry’s children could also be removed from the line of succession.”
Robert Blackburn, professor of constitutional law at King’s College London, told the Express that while Harry lives abroad, it is not a legal disqualification for becoming monarch. By an Act of Parliament, the Duke can be removed from the line of succession.
“Like Edward VIII, Prince Harry does not wish to perform the role of royalty expected of him and has withdrawn to live abroad. Presumably therefore Prince Harry would be agreeable to abdicate his place in succession if for any reason this became an issue in royal affairs being legislated upon,” said Blackburn.
“The only possible scenario…”
Robert Blackburn explained that while King Charles and the royals may want to remove Harry from the line of succession, it is ‘customary’ that the British Government, not the monarch, takes the initiative to put forward a bill like that.
The professor explained that for a constitutional measure like this, it is customary for the British Government to take the initiative and introduce the Bill – not the monarch.
Still, removing Harry from the line of succession could be tricky, the professor said.
“The only possible scenario, as I see it, is for there to be a Government Bill being prepared on another royal issue, such as an amendment to the Regency Act dealing with eligible counsellors of state, and a clause being added at the same time which Prince Harry himself requests that removes him from the line of succession as a mark of him clearly wishing to relinquish all ties to the public work of the Monarchy and Royal Family,” Robert Blackburn told the Express.
