King Charles III is known for introducing many firsts in Royal history, morphing long-held traditions, and deviating off the beaten path. But what he doesn’t know is that his need to be the king who rewrote the royal legacy is most probably the reason his “darling boy” Prince Harry, despite wanting to reunite with his family, is getting further and further away from his father.
Technically, the second Charles made it known that he had cancer should have been the moment when Harry and Meghan Markle were back in the Royal fold — not completely, but it was ideally the beginning of ending the feud that has gone on for way too long. But Charles, by perhaps being the first monarch to announce his health ailments, put dominoes in motion that may have robbed his youngest son of every hope and any chance he ever had of finding his way back to his family.
Why? Because by letting the world and his family know exactly how ill he was, he gave Prince William the incentive to put his “secret plans” into motion, as observed by royal commentator Tom Sykes for The Daily Beast. The future King William V swiftly appointed Ian Patrick, an expert former diplomat from the Foreign Office, as his private secretary in order to get ready for his “bigger, more global role.” Though Kate Middlteton’s cancer diagnosis did upend that plan for a few months, William did eventually return to the game and unless you have been sleeping under a rock for the entirety of 2024, it is clear who has more power in the Royal family and who is the King — there are two, very different answers.
“Anyone who doubts that only has to look at the glossy Instagram video William and Kate published last month to announce her recovery from cancer. It wasn’t signed off by the king, and featured not Charles, but Kate’s parents, Mike and Carole.”
He is not just filling in for his father, he is taking hold of the power a king has, and growing reports of William effectively shooting down Harry’s attempts to seek entry in the royal palace. Whether it was Harry marrying Meghan against William’s wishes or the Prince of Wales rising as the prime villain in his brother’s memoir Spare, his dislike for his younger brother he allegedly could no longer keep under his thumb in the last decade has been reported a lot more frequently and in great detail since Charles’ cancer announcement.
If it’s a coincidence, then Harry has nothing to worry about, if not, he might find that after his father is not around anymore, appeasing King William would be an impossible task. As per sources, while he doesn’t want to be a senior royal anymore, he is “tired” of the Royal drama tarnishing his reputation and chipping away at his dream of being the ultimate social philanthropist.
“One royal source told me that some insiders believe Harry went about cashing in on his family’s secrets in the expectation that he would be able to work his way back into the royal fold because of his father’s affection for his “darling boy.”
The source added that Harry initially believed his father would live as long as his grandmother and he would have enough time to “mend those broken bridges” as Charles loves him and his grandchildren too much to let the feud go on decades. Had he known the future then, especially the part where his brother wearing the crown is dangerously near, he would probably not have pointed accusatory fingers at William and Kate, the next Queen.
Reportedly, Charles’ advisors also find his decision to break the Royal pattern and reveal his cancer diagnosis to be “politically naive.” In light of how it has widened the wedge between his sons, it now makes more sense than ever that Queen Elizabeth kept the news of her bone cancer under wraps or how she herself was made aware of her father’s poor health after he died while she was away.