They won’t have to suffer Scotland’s gloomy weather at Sandringham or wade through lochs for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this summer.
King Charles and Queen Camilla did not invite renegade royals and their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to a family vacation at the monarch’s Highland estate, sources tell Page Six.
As Harry approaches his 40th birthday on September 15 and the chances of seeing his family again continue to appear remarkably slim, multiple sources have said there is only one way he could envisage a reconciliation with his father.
“King Charles can give Harry the security clearance he so desires. As monarch, he is the one who makes the final decisions. This is how father and son can reconcile,” a royal source said.
Harry has repeatedly said he will not bring his wife and children to the UK until he has official police protection. He and Meghan Markle, 42, lost their taxpayer-funded police protection after they stepped down as senior royals and moved to the US in 2020.
In April, Harry lost a court case against a British government ruling that banned him from paying for such protection when visiting the UK. He has now appealed the decision.
The prince reiterated his view in an ITV documentary, “Tabloids on Trial,” broadcast in the UK on Thursday, saying he would not bring his family back from America to their home country under current circumstances.
“It’s always dangerous, and it just takes one lone actor, one person reading these things to act on them,” he said. “And whether it’s a knife or acid, whatever it is, those are things that really concern me. That’s one of the reasons I’m not bringing my wife back to this country.”
But that’s not the only issue holding him back, he said. In the documentary, he also called the royal family’s refusal to join his legal fight against the press “the centerpiece” of the rift between them.
Although he has remained in contact with his father, Harry has not spoken to his older brother, Prince William, in more than two years. Page Six has learned of reports that Harry personally Reports that he was in contact with the future king or his sister-in-law Kate Middleton amid his cancer battle are inaccurate.
William, 42, remains furious after Harry claimed in his memoir, “Spare,” that the future monarch assaulted him during an explosive argument over Markle, according to a source. He is also reportedly angry that the book accused him and Middleton of encouraging Harry to wear a Nazi uniform to a costume party in 2005.
Worse still, writer Omid Scobie, author of the fawning biography of the Sussexes, Finding Freedom, caused a storm by claiming that Charles and Kate were the so-called royal racists who asked what colour Harry and Markle’s children would be. William is said to be appalled by the allegation.
Harry and Markle sparked a firestorm within the royal family during their famous 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, when Markle said there had been “concerns and conversations about what color (Archie’s) skin might be when he’s born.”
Given all this, royal watchers were quick to call Harry a hypocrite for citing his legal battle with the British tabloids as fueling discord within the family.
But a royal insider who has known Harry for years said that once again Harry had stumbled over his own words.
“Harry’s participation in this documentary is not about blaming his family or further addressing their ‘discord,'” the source said. “Rather, it’s about his ongoing fight against the British tabloids. Harry’s mission in taking legal action against the press is clearly unique… he acknowledges that his choices have caused tensions.”
The prince won a case against Mirror Group Newspapers in December 2023, when a judge ruled that his phone had been hacked by the tabloid “to a modest extent”.
Harry has two civil cases pending against the publishers of the Mail and the Sun (both deny allegations of illegal newsgathering).
“I’ve made it clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we did it as a family,” Harry said in the ITV documentary this week. “I think, again, from a service perspective and when you’re in a public role, these are things that we should do for the greater good. But I’m doing it for my own reasons.”
He said his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, supported his fight.
“We had many conversations before she passed away, and it’s something she really supported. She knew how much it meant to me,” he said. “She’s up there and says, ‘Follow it through,’ no questions asked.”
When the subject of his father and Middleton’s recent cancer diagnoses came up, Harry said: “They’re two completely different things. My father, my sister-in-law and myself fighting these legal battles are two completely different things.”
While Harry paid a brief visit to his father after the royal, 75, was diagnosed with cancer in February, his children have barely spent time with the grandfather – or their aunt, uncle and younger cousins George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six.
As Harry prepares to celebrate his landmark birthday, a longtime palace source told Page Six that their mother is concerned that he and William will struggle.
“Diana wanted them to be close. There were always rumours that she wanted Harry to be William’s wingman – it’s a nice idea, but she knew full well that the burden of the story would fall on William,” the source said.
“Too often, Harry’s behavior lacks judgment,” said Patrick Jephson, Princess Diana’s former chief of staff. “But that may be partly because he grew up in a royal world where blame could usually be shifted to someone else, shielding him from the consequences of his actions.”
“Harry’s statements often lack intellectual rigor. He often has good arguments to make to support his claims, but they are not always presented coherently. Particularly when he talks about his mother.”
Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not available for comment.
Although he was criticized for his comments this week, a friend of Harry’s noted that he has barely spoken publicly about the royal family in the past year, except for an interview with “Good Morning America” after Charles was diagnosed with cancer.
Harry told Will Reeve: “I jumped on a plane and went to see him as soon as I could. Look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane to go see him and spend time with him, I’m grateful for that.”
As for the near future, Harry is focusing on “for good” initiatives through his and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Foundation, including working with parents whose children have committed suicide after being bullied on social media. His planned documentary on Africa for Netflix has been shelved, Page Six has learned.
Despite rumors, he won’t be receiving a $9 million trust for his 40th birthday, the sources added. But it appears he’s found himself.
“Over the past two years, I’ve watched Harry become more comfortable in California and in his life, making friends, finding a home and figuring out what he wants to do with his future,” the friend said.
“I think he has his convictions and he is determined, but I also think he is more relaxed than before.”