Last week, Prince Harry’s very public plea to reconcile with his cancer-stricken father King Charles “who won’t speak to me” after years of estrangement was met with telling silence from the monarch.
Now royal insiders say the King’s refusal to mend bridges with Harry, 40, and wife Meghan, 43, could cost the 76-year-old ever seeing grandchildren Archie, six, and Lilibet, three, again.
“Meghan now knows where she stands with Charles and there’s no going back,” a royal insider tells Woman’s Day.
“She and Harry have done everything to try and get through this impregnable wall around his father since he became King.”
CRY FOR HELP
“As far as Meghan’s concerned, this is Charles’ decision to not see his grandchildren – and if that’s the case she’s happy to keep them away.”
After UK judges dismissed Harry’s long-running appeal for security in his homeland, the prince extended an olive branch of sorts to his estranged family in an interview with the BBC, insisting, “There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious.”
Insider say it was Meghan and her PR friend Meredith Maines who orchestrated the interview as a way to “force Charles’ hand” and see how serious he was about reuniting with Harry and his grandkids.
“It felt like the only way they could get a message to Charles and tell him how much Harry wants to see him,” the source says.
“They’re devastated and both genuinely shocked to have not had any response from Charles to the interview. It’s hurt Harry deeply and he’s starting to accept that the door’s really closed on his former life.”
Buckingham Palace did issue a statement about the judge’s decision over Harry’s security, stating, “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
With their security hopes dashed, Harry and Meghan feel they have “no choice” but to keep their children safe in California and far away from the UK, where they’ve been open to death threats since they left the royal family in 2020.
Their eldest son, Archie, turned six last week, but the amount of times he’s seen his grandad Charles in his young life can be counted on one hand. Meanwhile, the King is thought to have only met his youngest granddaughter Lili once. “It’s a devastating thought, especially with Charles’ health issues, that Archie and Lilibet will likely never see him in person again,” the source says. “But this is his choice, as far as Harry and Meghan are concerned.”
SECRET SADNESS
Harry was criticised for commenting that he doesn’t know “how much longer my father has left”, but when it comes to seeing his grandkids, Charles’ age and illness is weighing on his mind.
Royal expert Jennie Bond says of the King’s “great sadness”, “Charles is a sentimental man and a doting grandfather to George, Charlotte and Louis. And I’m sure as his struggle with cancer continues, he thinks more about the great loss of not being able to spend time with Harry’s children.”
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