A “trust issue” between King Charles III and Prince Harry might be the reason their royal family feud continues.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman — author of Charles III: New King, New Court — said the rift won’t be healed “anytime soon” while speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales on Monday, May 27. He credited Harry’s January 2023 memoir, Spare, and its impact on the family, as part of the reason why the rift has continued.
“People are still very wounded, particularly Prince William, that these intimate private childhood family moments all spilled out in Harry’s book,” Hardman claimed. “It’s not what Harry said, it’s the fact that he said it, and he gave away so many secrets. And he was, effectively, at the time of the Queen’s death, you know, he was taking notes.”
While Hardman complimented the “amazing” book, he noted that there might be more to the story.
“If you get to the bit about his wedding to Meghan [Markle], it boils down really to about four or five pages,” he said. “Now, as an author, that says to me one thing and one thing only: part two might be on its way.”
Charles, 75, is “unhappy” with the feud, Hardman speculated. “He definitely finds it unsettling,” the author added.
Harry, 39, and wife Meghan Markle announced their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family in 2020, eventually walking away from their royal duties for good and relocating to California. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have had bad blood with the British monarchy ever since. Harry wrote at-length about the extent of the ongoing rift in Spare, including the “duel” he had with brother William, 41, at their grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
“I tried to explain my side of things,” he wrote, referring to his royal exit. “I’d vowed not to let this encounter devolve into another argument. But I quickly discovered that it wasn’t up to me.”
Charles stepped in during the argument asking his sons to not “make my final years a misery.”
Despite the hardships, Harry rushed to be by his father’s side in February after it was announced that Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer.
“I love my family,” Harry said during a Good Morning America appearance later that same month. “The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.”
Author Hardman spoke about this moment during his Hay Festival talk on Monday as well.
“I thought it was telling that when the cancer diagnosis came through back in February, Prince Harry came straight over,” he said, in part, noting Harry’s trip was “important” to the royal family. “I think what encouraged people at the palace and encouraged the king was the fact that afterwards, we didn’t then read about it or hear about it. It remained private.”
