Relations between Prince Harry and his father have reached a new low amid an increasingly heated row over Harry’s safety.
Friends of King Charles III told The Daily Beast that Prince Harry was using “emotional blackmail” by threatening that the king would never meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, again. They claimed that Harry was trying to pressure the monarch to use his influence to get him and his family automatic security while in the UK.
However, a source close to Harry dismissed this idea, telling The Daily Beast that the “neo-Nazi and extremist” threats against Harry were real, and that one of the main reasons the prince wanted security from British police was so his children could “know where he came from.” The source noted that Harry had even offered “to cover the cost of security, so as not to impose a cost on the British taxpayer.”
The heated exchanges represent the latest salvo in Harry’s long battle with the British government over his security status.
The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) stripped him of his right to automatic police protection while on British soil when he left the Royal Family. His offer to pay for such protection himself was rejected on the grounds that armed British police are not available for hire.
Harry has lost his court case to restore those privileges time and time again, and he is now preparing for a final chance to appeal the damning rulings that have consistently gone against him.
It is believed he spent more than $1 million on the case.
The issue flared up again last week, when Harry claimed in a television interview that his wife Meghan Markle could not safely return to the UK and that he feared she would be the target of an acid or knife attack sparked by negative coverage of her in the tabloids.
“The idea that the security forces would allow the Sussexes to be attacked by an acid-throwing, knife-wielding maniac on British soil is absurd, and Harry knows it.“
— Friend of King Charles
His comments do not directly refer to his children, but Harry has made clear in the past that he sees them as targets as well. They have often been the target, as has Meghan, of deeply disturbing racist abuse.
However, a friend of the royal told The Daily Beast: “Harry has lost his security case and is now trying emotional blackmail to get what he wants, cynically using the threat of Archie and Lilibet never meeting their grandfather again as a tactic to force the king to cancel RAVEC.
“The idea that the security forces are going to allow the Sussexes to be attacked by an acid-throwing, knife-wielding maniac on British soil is absurd, and Harry knows it. To use it as leverage, as an excuse to stop his children seeing their grandfather, is beyond contemptuous. Charles is being treated for a very serious cancer, so even if he could find the time, he can’t just fly to LA at the drop of a hat, as Harry can – and did earlier this year – in the other direction.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walk outside City Hall as they attend the “One Year To Go” event ahead of the Invictus Games 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany on September 6, 2022.
Benjamin Westhoff/Reuters
The source, a long-time family friend of several generations of royals, added: “I wonder, when they are older, how these children will feel about being denied a meaningful relationship with the King of England. To deprive them of that experience, with all its importance and legacy, seems very misguided. Of course he wants to see them, but if you force Charles to choose between his duty to the Crown and his personal feelings, he will always choose the Crown, just as his mother did.”
Another friend, a contemporary of William and Harry’s generation, who was once friends with both brothers but is now loyal to William, said: “When Harry was evicted from Frogmore Cottage, one of his phrases was that Charles would never see the children again. He is the one who made that threat public.”
When the source pointed out that Harry had not mentioned his children in the TV interview, she replied: “That was clearly implied. It’s not really about Meghan, who has no intention of ever returning to England.”
The last time Charles saw Archie, now five, and Lilibet, now three, was during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.
King Charles recently reportedly said he was unhappy that he only knows his grandchildren through video calls.
A source speaking to British tabloid The Mirror “The King is absolutely determined to be present in the lives of all his grandchildren. He values family above all else and no matter how his relationship with his son evolves, he will never be content to see his grandchildren on an occasional video call,” the King said.
“Prince Harry’s goal was simple: to ensure his safety and that of his family during his stay in the United Kingdom so that his children could experience his home country.“
— Source close to Prince Harry
However, a source close to Harry told The Daily Beast: “Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life. He remains sixth in line to the throne, has served two combat tours in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats. While his role within the institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Neither has the threat to him and his family.”
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, but this security cannot replicate the police protection required during their stay in the UK. The Duke remains willing to cover the cost of security, so as not to impose any cost on the British taxpayer. As is well known, other individuals who have left public office and who pose an inherent threat risk are provided with police protection at no cost to them. Prince Harry’s aim is simple: to ensure his safety and that of his family during their stay in the UK so that his children can experience his home country.”
Charles and Harry’s offices declined to comment.
Another source, a palace insider, told The Daily Beast: “The whole thing is totally fascinating. I think Harry must be wondering why Charles didn’t cancel RAVEC, which he could have done, despite his insistence that he couldn’t do it, being king and all. That’s because the last thing the palace wants is for Harry and Meghan to routinely show up unannounced or create a rival royal court in the UK.”
“As it stands, they have to give 28 days’ notice of their arrival and they have to essentially agree in advance with the police where they will be, or could be, at any time. That suits the Palace perfectly.”
Prince Harry has been embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with the British government over his security status since stepping down as a working member of the royal family.
King Charles III visits Aberdeen Town House to meet families who have settled in Aberdeen from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine, in Aberdeen, Scotland, October 17, 2022.
Jane Barlow/Pool via Reuters
In 2020, after he and Meghan decided to step back from royal duties and move to the United States, Harry was stripped of his right to automatic police protection on British soil. Harry argues that his status as a high-profile figure and the potential threats to him and his family require protection.
In a recent television interview, Harry conflated the issue with what he sees as unfair and inflammatory coverage of his family in the British tabloid press, saying: “It only takes one actor who reads these articles to act on them. And whether it’s a knife or acid, these are things that really concern me. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not bringing my wife back to this country.”
As the Daily Beast reported at the time, Omid Scobie in his book End of Game Harry reportedly told his father when he was ordered to leave his British home of Frogmore Cottage with Meghan, “Don’t you want to see your grandchildren again?”
Scobie, known for his sympathy for the Sussexes, called Charles’ decision to expel Harry “a low blow from a father wounded and bound by an institutional system often intolerant of human emotion.”