Last week, Prince Harry spent two days in a London courtroom as a continuation of his long-running fight for enhanced security when he visits the UK. Though Harry visited his birth country for the hearing, he didn’t see his father, King Charles III, who was on a royal tour of Italy with his wife, Queen Camilla. According to sources who spoke to People, the relationship between Harry and the king is still strained, and the pair haven’t seen one another since Harry’s quick trip to the UK in February 2024, soon after the king announced his cancer diagnosis. “They are distant,” one source told the magazine.
Though the relationship between Harry and his father has been strained since the prince and his wife, Meghan Markle, left their royal roles in early 2020, the relationship has been on ice since January 2023, when Harry published his memoir Spare, which was filled with intimate details about his family. A source close to the palace told People that there hasn’t been much contact between Harry and the King since. “I don’t think there is any rapprochement,” the source said. “Nothing has changed.”
Right now, Harry’s ongoing legal fight about security is one of the sticking points in their relationship. Harry has fought the British government about their 2020 decision to strip him of elevated security for years, and last year Harry argued that the king’s aides, who have roles on the security committee RAVEC, might have played a role in that decision.
Harry has returned to the UK multiple times in the last year, but Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex, have not visited since 2022. After the hearings last week, Harry told People’s Simon Perry that his family’s safety “has always mattered the most.” Harry added that was surprised to learn of the private information that was discussed in the courtroom last week.
“People would be shocked by what’s being held back,” the prince said, adding that his decision to fight back on the matter of his security was “driven by exposing injustice” and a desire to “get under the bonnet and fix” things.
In his conversation with People, Harry also mentioned his wife’s recent business successes with the launch of her brand As Ever and her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder. “I am so happy for my wife and fully support absolutely everything she’s done and continues to do,” the prince said. “I’m incredibly proud.”
