Prince Harry and King Charles’ Relationship Has ‘Deteriorated to a New Level,’ Source Says: Inside Their Rift

Prince Harry and King Charles’ relationship isn’t showing signs of improvement. A source tells ET why it’s been hard to repair.

Time is not healing the wound in Prince Harry and his father, King Charles III’s rocky relationship.

Amid the news of Harry’s visit with his father in February — following his cancer diagnosis — and his latest interview with ITV, a source says that the Duke of Sussex and the King’s relationship has gotten more strained.

“Prince Harry’s relationship with his father has deteriorated to a new low level,” the source says.

The source notes that though their meeting earlier this year was “warm” it was also brief, due do scheduling and left them only an hour to visit. Harry has not been able to find time with Charles since.

Harry, 39, has also made it clear that his wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, will not return to the U.K. without the reinstatement of their personal security — which the couple lost when they stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
A source tells ET that Prince Harry’s relationship with King Charles III has hit a new low. – Getty
According to the source, the father-son duo are “at loggerheads over Harry’s security requests and are no longer communicating.” Harry was denied time with his father earlier this month, as he returned home to London for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.

“Harry has genuine security concerns about the safety of his family in light of Princess Diana’s death and feels that his father can help him in his ongoing battle with RAVEC (the entity that oversees security),” the source says.

Another major issue that has added to the rift, and continued Harry’s strained relationship with his older brother, and the heir to the throne, Prince William, is his contentious memoir, Spare.

“Their rift is not only just tied to security but also the family’s distrust of Harry and Meghan, including Harry’s tell-all bestselling memoir,” the source notes.

Last week, Harry sat down with ITV for a solo interview and stated that his legal battles with British tabloids is a “central piece” that destroyed his relationship with his family.

The special, titled Tabloids On Trial, was centered around Harry’s legal fight against Mirror Group Newspapers. Harry settled his hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers back in February.

“That’s certainly a central piece to it,” Harry explained (via Variety) in the doc about his determination to fight the tabloids in court leading to a family rift. “But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press… I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we, you know, did it as a family. I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”

He added, “I think everything that’s played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission continues, but it has, it has, yes. It’s caused, yeah, as you say, part of a rift.”

Harry and Meghan are set to appear in their first joint sit-down special since 2021 on Sunday for an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, where they will speak about their latest child social media safety initiative.