Why Harry's hopes for reconciliation with the King are doomed

Telegraph

11 hours ago

For Elizabeth II, it was the final straw in the Megxit saga – and it happened four years ago this week.
The monarch, then 95, had successfully defended her family against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's explosive Oprah Winfrey interview with the pithy royal response that ' some recollections may vary '.
She had more than enough reason to be angry. As the couple accused two unnamed royals of being racist towards their as-yet-unborn son, Archie, before a global audience of millions on March 7 2021, Prince Philip was dying in hospital. He died less than a month later, on April 9, aged 99.
Astonishingly, though, it wasn't that extraordinary prime-time salvo that ended any hope of a royal rapprochement between the Sussexes and the late Queen.
The fatal blow came three months later on June 4, when the Sussexes announced their newborn daughter would be named Lilibet after her great-grandmother's childhood nickname. The couple celebrated the moment on Wednesday by releasing an eye-popping video of themselves 'twerking' in their hospital delivery suite.
When the couple insisted that the late Queen was 'supportive' of them using the name, the normally imperturbable monarch did something she had rarely done before.
Angered by the false assertion that she had given her blessing, she instructed the Buckingham Palace powers-that-be to make it clear that her permission had not, in fact, been sought.
So when the US-based couple fired off a legal letter to the BBC for an article reporting that the late Queen had not been properly consulted, the palace refused to back up their version of events.
Lilibet, the pet name given to Her Majesty by her parents King George VI and the Queen Mother and used only by them, her sister Princess Margaret, Prince Philip and her closest confidantes, was one of the only things the late Queen had to herself – and Harry and Meghan had purloined it.
Not only did the legal threats against BBC fail to materialise, but the incident was conspicuous by its absence from the Duke's tell-all autobiography Spare, published in January 2023, four months after Her Majesty's death.
This week marks the fourth anniversary of that unedifying episode and it remains an important reminder of just how difficult it will be for the Royals to reconcile with a couple whose 'truth' has often seemed to collide with royal reality.
Talk of whether relations will ever be restored between the Sussexes and the Windsors is not just a media obsession. It remains a topic of intense discussion behind palace gates where aides have been trying to map a way forward as the King, 76, continues to recover from cancer.
In yet another bombshell interview, recorded after he had lost an appeal in court over his security last month, the Duke told the BBC that he wanted to heal family wounds. Some interpreted it as a 'dead cat' strategy to distract from the fact he had failed to persuade the judge that the Home Office should have maintained his taxpayer funded royalty protection.
He said: 'There have been so many disagreements, differences between me and some of my family. This current situation that has been now ongoing for five years with regards to human life and safety is the sticking point; it is the only thing that's left. Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book, of course they will never forgive me for lots of things. But you know there is…I would love reconciliation with my family.
'There's no point in continuing to fight anymore, as I said life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has, he won't speak to me because of this security stuff but it would be nice to reconcile.'
Coming just days after the King had given a poignant update on his illness, describing the experience as 'daunting' and 'frightening', the Duke's outburst understandably caused huge upset.
The palace had been very careful not to discuss the details of the King's condition, stressing only that his recovery continues in a 'very positive direction, as reflected with the very full national and international diary programme'.
It was an unhelpful intervention ahead of the King and Queen's very positively received trip to Canada, and some felt it set back efforts to reassure the public that he was faring well – so well in fact, that very tentative planning had begun on his 80th birthday celebrations in 2028.
The talk now is that he may die 'with' cancer, but not 'of' cancer following a rigorous treatment programme.
One concession to his health and advancing years that has been made, however, is that it appears unlikely he will ever move from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace after the restoration is completed in three year's time although it will remain the household's office for the rest of his reign.
Equally exploratory have been discussions about if or when father and son could ever be reunited, with some mooting that the next Invictus Games could provide an opportunity when it is held in Birmingham in 2027. Mindful of the Duke's recent televised olive branch, the palace has even carried out discrete polling to find out how many people were aware of the BBC interview (over 80 per cent of Brits weren't). Yet there is an awareness that the impasse cannot continue forever, not least if it starts to reflect badly on the King.
Serious concerns remain, however, about the intimate contents of any meeting ending up in the public domain, which is the main reason the King is no longer taking his youngest son's calls.
The irony of the palace's predicament has not been lost on aides who had grown used to the Duke regularly complaining about stories ending up in the press he claimed had been leaked by royal staff. Eyebrows were raised when the Sussexes' spokesman briefed that they had not been invited to the King's 75th birthday celebrations in 2023 amid reports they had snubbed the event.
Were there to be a public reconciliation at the Invictus Games, it is hoped it would also involve Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet who will be eight and six by then. The King last saw his youngest grandchildren during the Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
The Duchess's presence remains a known unknown, with some questioning whether she will ever return to the UK for fear of a hostile reception from the public. The couple were booed on arrival at St Paul's Cathedral in London for a ceremony marking jubilee three years ago and a great deal more has been said and done since then.
As ever, security remains a barrier with the Duke continuing to insist that he and his family aren't safe returning to Britain without the armed Metropolitan police bodyguards who used to protect them when they were working royals. While exasperated by the Duke's insistence that his father could have stepped in and prevented the Royal and VIP Executive Committee from downgrading his son's security, aides are believed to be looking at ways the family could be enveloped into King's security arrangements were he to make an official royal visit to the games.
The Prince of Wales's involvement remains unlikely after the Duke revealed the gory details of a brotherly brawl over a dog bowl and accused his sister-in-law of questioning what the Sussexes' firstborn might look like along with the King. (Although the Duke did not name them in Spare, they were outed in Endgame, a book by the Sussexes' hagiographer Omid Scobie.)
Although the heir to the throne is no longer as angry as he was, those who know him best believe there is 'no way back'. The prevailing attitude is to let sleeping dogs lie.
As far as the wider Royal family are concerned, they believe they did everything in their power to make the Duchess feel welcome, and view the Duke – once nicknamed ' The Hostage ' by palace staff – to be enthralled by his wife. Some had questioned whether the marriage would go the distance but are now resigned to the fact that the Duke will never return to Britain now his children, who have US passports and accents, are being brought up in America.
After it was announced in January that the Princess of Wales is in remission following abdominal surgery and chemotherapy, the Waleses are under growing pressure to increase their workload amid concerns they may be spending too much time with their immediate family instead of supporting the Firm.
Alive to the need to be as visible as possible, while remaining hands on parents to Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and seven-year-old Prince Louis, brokering a reunion with the Duke (let alone the Duchess) would appear to be low down their list of priorities.
Like the King, they are also worried about the contents of any conversations making yet more lurid headlines.
As far as the Crown is concerned, the institution will never reconcile with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. But the Royals are also a family and as the Prince joked this week: 'Some of them [relatives] might not want to see you that much. It's a mixed bag.'