bitchy | People: Prince Harry & King Charles haven’t spoken since February 2024

Last Friday, Prince Harry gave exclusive comments to People Magazine and the Telegraph. The comments were the same, and I don’t know if Harry emailed them or he spoke to the two reporters at the same time, but it was interesting. Harry spoke about his royal-protection appeal and the shocking things he learned throughout the years-long case against Ravec and Britain’s Home Office. That’s something I think people are missing – Harry has been engaged in various legal actions about this for three years or more. None of this is a new situation! The only thing that’s changed, significantly enough, is that Harry’s grandmother died and his father became king. That seemed to shift the case, because (wouldn’t you know) King Charles wants to maintain some kind of control over the Sussexes, at least as far as their travel to and within the UK. Which is why Harry believes Charles could change his family’s security, which I think is true, Charles could absolutely intervene. Buckingham Palace regularly lies about that though, and Harry’s security case has been cited for the past eighteen months or so as “the reason” why Charles refuses to speak to Harry. All of this is background for this week’s People Mag cover story:

Strained relations between father & son: As Prince Harry’s long-running legal fight over U.K. security reaches a pivotal moment, the Duke of Sussex’s relationship with his father, King Charles, remains strained — a sign that the wounds within the royal family are far from healed. “I don’t think there is any rapprochement,” a source close to the palace tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “Nothing has changed.” Adds another source: “They are distant.”

This case matters most to Harry: This isn’t just a legal appeal for him — it’s a fight to protect Meghan and their children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, and perhaps a final chance at reconciliation with his father. The courtroom tensions mirror the personal rift between father and son. Charles’s advisers are directly tied to RAVEC, the government’s Royal and VIP Executive Committee, which is denying Harry’s protection.

Controlling the Sussexes: One of Harry’s core beliefs is that the removal of official security was a calculated attempt to control him and Meghan, 43 — and to deter them from stepping away from royal life and starting a new chapter outside the U.K. But in Harry’s view, the decision only revealed the lengths to which the palace was willing to go — and became his final straw. He admits that this realization “was difficult to swallow” and has deepened an already raw rift. Amid the tumult, Harry feels his father — who serves as the ceremonial head of state — could easily intervene and have his security reinstated, though the palace has consistently denied this.

There’s been no communication between Harry & Charles in over a year: [There] have been no private father-son conversations since [Harry visited the UK last year, after Charles’s cancer diagnosis]. Sources close to Harry say his calls and letters continue to go unanswered. The estrangement is so profound that Harry learned of his father’s March 27 hospitalization — related to complications from treatment — through the media. Friends note that during each of Harry’s last three U.K. visits, Charles has been unavailable —including this month, despite Harry’s court date having long been scheduled and known ahead of the King’s overlapping state visit to Italy. Harry also remains in the dark about his father’s current condition and prognosis.

Charles is deliberately keeping his distance: Those close to Harry believe the King is deliberately keeping his distance, in part to avoid being drawn into discussions about security. “[The legal battle] puts Harry in direct contact with the people who are carrying out the King’s orders,” royal author Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE. “If his father was to say something even seemingly innocuous, it could end up landing in the middle of the court case.” Still, another source with close palace ties pushes back, saying a distinction between personal life and official duties could be made, “but things have been febrile for a while.”

The situation with William: The same is true of Harry’s fractured relationship with his brother Prince William, 42, who also hasn’t responded to calls or messages from Harry. While Harry still hopes for reconciliation, trust remains a major hurdle. The fallout from Spare, Harry’s candid memoir that exposed private conversations and long-held tensions, continues to weigh heavily on their relationship. “These are things that would have been considered confidential,” Bedell Smith notes.

The state of Harry’s appeal: Following the hearing, a source close to Harry’s legal team said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the outcome. A ruling is expected in the coming weeks. Regardless of the outcome of the legal case, Harry said, he is “driven by exposing injustice” and a desire to “get under the bonnet and fix” what’s broken. His determination is deeply personal: If anything were to happen to Meghan or their two young children, he could never rest. Says a source close to the situation: “He feels very strongly this is something he must fight for.”

Honestly, I wish Harry would make his peace with cutting off his family entirely. I know he can’t and I know that he truly wants some kind of connection to his father especially. But he’s a 40 year old man who left an extremely toxic and dangerous situation for a reason. I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to just acknowledge that there’s no way back in any form, but Harry is a Virgo and we’re not a forgiving group of people. Virgos are very good at burning bridges and Harry needs to lean into that. In this case, Charles and William have made it abundantly clear that they want these bridges burned too. I also get why Harry wants to maintain other relationships in the UK – the Spencers and his few remaining British charities – but I hope he understands that the Windsors are going to continue to harm him through the things and people he cares about too. Like Sentebale – the Windsors’ fingerprints are all over that mess. They’ll eventually come after Invictus too. Stop treating these people as your fam and acknowledge that they are your biggest opps.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.