Prince Harry was ‘blocked’ from having a heart-to-heart with King Charles by Palace aides over fears ‘they’d never get rid of him’, it has been claimed.
Following the King’s cancer diagnosis last week, it is believed the Duke of Sussex hoped to join him for a few days at Sandringham when he arrived in London last week.
However, according to The Sun, an insider said Prince Harry was instructed to visit Clarence House, his father’s London home, for a short managed face-to-face meeting before being told to get a hotel accomodation for himself to spend the night.
‘Harry came over to see his father, expecting to go to Sandringham. But instead he was asked to be at Clarence House and was restricted to 30 minutes,’ the source told The Sun on Sunday.
‘The fear was that if he went to Sandringham they would never get rid of him.’
The comments come after reports claimed Prince Harry had ‘zero chance’ of coming back into The Firm, with royal insiders saying Prince William ‘would not allow it’ amid claims his brother and Meghan Markle ‘cannot be trusted’.
Harry’s travel form US to the UK has raised hopes that his return to Britain will be used to heal wounds with King Charles and a chance to reach out to his brother Prince William.
In a TV interview with Good Morning America on Friday, Harry said he hoped that his father’s illness could have a ‘reunifying effect’ on the family.
Harry also said ‘I love my family’ and that he was ‘grateful’ to be able to spend time with his father when he flew back to the UK last week.
Prince Harry, who stepped down as a working royal alongside his wife the Duchess of Sussex in 2020, is a counsellor of state but is not expected to take up any of the King’s duties while he recovers.
The report says insiders last night insisted no offer had been to Harry to take on a ‘half in, half out’ hybrid royal role.
Insisting other senior royals like the Queen, Prince William, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie were ‘more than capable of holding the fort’, The Sun on Sunday said they were told by a source: ‘Is Harry really saying he’d fly back from California to attend an investiture?’
Palace sources have emphasised the King’s illness would not change the terms of the Sandringham summit agreement, in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s exit from the working Royal family was agreed in detail.
‘Those terms were quite clear, and the King’s illness hasn’t altered that,’ a source said, according to the Telegraph.
