July has been an exciting month for all the royal watchers out there. After years of bickering, it seems King Charles and Prince Harry are finally making progress towards a full on royal reunion. But Prince William is clearly not involved in the peace talks and it turns out his father might have had a hand in that decision after all.
Earlier this month representatives of the Sussex family met with a representative of Charles but no one was there to represent William. Initially it was theorized that the future king was keeping his distance as he was not ready to trust his younger brother (and maybe never would). However, it turns out William wasn’t even offered an invite to the peace talks suggesting something else was going on.
King Charles fires a warning shot at William
According to former royal photographer Ian Pelham-Turner, William not being invited was intended as a message, the message being that Charles is still the head of the family and as such he is the one calling the shots.
“I feel that this was a warning shot across William’s bows that Charles is king – not him. It may also be a stark warning that Charles will decide what happens during his reign, not William.”
It seems the father and son may disagree on how to approach the Harry situation. Commentators have suggested that William may be harsher on his younger brother when he becomes King, apparently the Duke of Sussex even fears that William might strip him of all royal status and essentially banish him.
Meanwhile, Charles seems more inclined to forgive and while he’s still the reigning monarch it is up to him to decide how best to handle the situation whether William agrees with him or not. The decision to exclude him from peace talks certainly appears to be a power play on the part of the King.
The King wants peace
According to Pelham-Turner the informal meeting is a “sign from King Charles” that he “wants peace.” The former royal photographer has spent a lot of time with the King over the years so it’s fair to say he knows Charles well. Pelham-Turner went on to claim that the rift between the Palace and the Sussexes will “go on as long as the Palace wants it to.”
So far it seems like the initial meeting went well, there’s even the possibility of Harry and Charles meeting in person this September as the Prince is attending the WellChild Awards in the U.K. If Harry is able to win over his father then William is next, but the future King likely won’t be so easily convinced, even if it means disagreeing with his own father.
