Following the release of Prince Harry's memoir, a meeting to resolve tensions between his family could be in the making.
The Duke of Sussex's 'Spare' has quickly become one of the fastest selling book as he tells stories of his time as a boy, and as a working royal, while sharing intimate details of his life and relationships.
Throughout it he mentions his brother and a royal source has said that Harry has called for a reconciliation on several occasions, asking for "an apology" from his royal family, but they have "shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile."
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As the Mirror reports, any reunion would need to take place before King Charles' coronation.
The source said: “It’s going to take flexibility on all sides, but it can be done, it’s fixable.
“It needs Harry over here, in the room with the King and Prince of Wales, a couple of other family members, some of ‘his people’ he trusts who always had his back, so he doesn’t think he’s being ambushed.
"Someone like Elf [Ed Lane Fox, Harry’s former private secretary] and Christopher [Lord Geidt, the late Queen’s former private secretary who advised the Sussexes]. Both sides need to hold their hands up and admit 'we didn’t get everything right, and we got a lot wrong', and we have to say to him ‘we understand the pain you’ve been through’. The King can do it.”
Since the release of Spare, members of the royal family have not commented on the book. The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine made their first public appearance in Liverpool since the memoir hit the shelves. When asked about the book by press, William remained silent.
Speaking about William, the source added: “He is loyal to the throne and understands what needs to be done for the country.
“Not everyone here behaved well, but Harry’s got to be able to sit down and say ‘we didn’t behave well either’. That takes a lot of academic flexibility, which Harry isn’t great at.”
The source believes any reconciliation needs to happen soon. “We’ve got to move on it, and get it done by April," they added. "Then, we need to get the wives in. The King needs a clear run for the coronation.”
His majesty's coronation is set to take place on May 6, 2023.
Another well-placed royal source agrees: “They have to invite them in before the coronation, or it will become such a circus and distraction.” If such a reconciliation were to take place, there is speculation as to which figure would preside over it, with the Archbishop of Canterbury deemed a suitably trustworthy figure.
Asked last month if reconciliation was possible, Justin Welby said: “There is always a way forward. But it has to be at the right time.”
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph last week, Harry acknowledged that his family would find it hard to forgive him. He said: “Some of the stuff I’ve put in there, well, they will never forgive me anyway. But the way I see it is, I’m willing to forgive you for everything you’ve done.”
In his memoir, he insisted he is not trying to collapse the monarchy, but "save them from themselves". In the same interview, he said it was his “life’s mission to right the wrongs of the very thing that drove us out” and to “fix” things: “When you’re trying to change an institution … that is not a small task. The scale of the challenge is enormous.”
Yet a former royal aide who was in the eye of several previous royal storms, said: “It’s a bump in the road. It’s not an abdication. When the Princess of Wales died, people said it would lead to the end of the monarchy. It didn’t. This is a knock, it’s not Armageddon.”
A close friend of both William and Harry’s believes a reconciliation needs to take place, for the sake of both brothers. The silence for now has been the right thing, but this is not going to go away.
"This has to be resolved and neutralised, so that when William has the top job, his brother isn’t still sniping from the sidelines. I genuinely don’t think this is the end of things. Harry simply cannot do without his brother.”
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