The royal family was given a “very brief” heads-up before Prince Harry’s bombshell BBC News interview earlier this month.
“There was a very brief awareness-raising at the palace shortly before it [was] broadcast,” Hello! Magazine’s royal editor Emily Nash claimed on the “A Right Royal Podcast” on Friday, May 9. “What I understand is that there were, potentially, discussions that might have happened as a result of the case now having been concluded.”
Nash claimed that King Charles III “didn’t feel he could have these conversations” regarding the security trial with Harry, 40, because it would “put him in a really difficult, and potentially unconstitutional, situation.”
Harry made headlines earlier this month when he publicly asked for reconciliation with his family after losing his appeal for government-funded security in the U.K. The duke has been fighting to restore his security presence since leaving the royal family in 2020 alongside wife Meghan Markle. Before his public plea, Harry alluded to his father’s involvement in the ongoing legal battle.
“He couldn’t be seen to intervene on his son’s behalf or get involved in government matters,” Nash added. “His son is suing His Majesty’s government, you know he needed to stay right out of this situation.”
Nash previously believed there was “potentially” an olive branch that could have been extended — but that all changed once Harry did the interview.
Not only did Harry claim that Charles, 76, “won’t speak to me” in his BBC interview, which aired May 2, but he also commented on his father’s mortality. (Charles was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024.)
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry said. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Royal expert Christopher Andersen told Us Weekly exclusively that Harry’s comment about Charles’ health likely didn’t land with the royal family, noting that the Duke of Sussex “has an odd way” of showing that he wants a reconciliation.
“He slams his father for interfering in the trial, then says the Palace rigged the outcome, then accuses the Royal Family of not caring about the safety of his wife and children, and winds up declaring that for now he can’t foresee any scenario in which he would take his family to the U.K.,” Andersen, who has written several books about the royal family, continued. “Harry delivered the coup de grace when he said he wanted to bury the hatchet with his father because he doesn’t know how much time the King has left to live.”
