The Duke of Sussex is in the UK for the WellChild Awards but will not meet with his father who remains at Balmoral
Queen Camilla with her stepson Prince Harry during the Trooping The Colour ceremony in 2015
(Image: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
Harry has been patron of the charity for 15 years and his trip to the UK had raised hopes he and his father could hold talks to try and mend their relationship. But reports suggest no summit will take place with Charles still in Scotland, staying at Balmoral.
Sources now suggest Camilla is concerned about the impact a meeting could have on the King’s health. Charles has been undergoing cancer treatment this year and his wife is said to fear a meeting with Harry would be too stressful at a time he needs to relax.
It comes as details emerge of a new TV programme that will paint the Queen as a ‘wicked stepmother’. Harry was critical of Camilla in his memoir Spare and sources suggest the Channel Four documentary will present Harry and Meghan Markle as “victims” of his stepmother.
As well as the potential to impact on the King’s health, two other stumbling blocks appeal to have presented themselves preventing a meeting. There are concerns over the reaction of Prince William, said to be deeply hurt by Harry’s revelations, and the prospect of a constitutional crisis if Harry raises the issue of his security when in the UK.
A friend of the Queen told the Daily Beast that Camilla is pressuring the King not to meet his younger son at the moment. They said: “She has been the principal voice urging Charles to slow down and take things easy. The last thing she wants him to do is to get stressed out over a meeting with Harry.”
King Charles III has been in Scotland and won’t be meeting with his younger son (Image: PA)
However, sources say Charles has an “instinctive impulse towards Christian reconciliation” which has only been sharpened by his cancer diagnosis. He is keen to settle the rift because he “loves both his sons” but also “because it has been so destabilizing for the monarchy”.
Charles and Harry last met face-to-face after the King’s cancer diagnosis. The brief meeting was said to have been attended by Camilla.
