Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Prince Harry's fragile union with King Charles - money rows, wedding woes and William bond

When King Charles is finally crowned in a few weeks time, he will be safe in the knowledge that his youngest son Prince Harry will be there on his big day.

But Harry's relationship with his father has not always been plain sailing - not least in recent years off the back of bombshell interviews, a shocking Netflix series and a controversial memoir.

Over the years, the Duke of Sussex has accused his dad of cutting him off financially, criticised his parenting - and even accused him of being a liar.

However, after Harry accepted his invitation to the Coronation, does this mean relations between the pair are looking up? Here we look at the flashpoints of their bond and how they got to their current situation....

Childhood days

Harry is the second son of Charles and his late ex-wife Princess Diana. Speaking in 1994, Charles told a documentary, he tried to spend as much time as he could with his young sons.

However, royal biographer Penny Junor once claimed that Charles had been a "remote figure".

Prince Charles with a one-year-old Harry at Kensington Palace (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

She told the Daily Beast : "It is a slightly tricky relationship because Charles has always been quite a remote figure, he has always been consumed by work.

"That’s not a product of a lack of love. It’s a product of the fact he is so focused on his work, and the need to make a difference in the world that, like many people who are seeking to make a difference in the world, he has sometimes overlooked friends and loved ones beside him."

Diana's death

As a young boy, Harry saw the breakdown of his parent's marriage, which played out in the full media spotlight.

In 1997 - a year after Charles and Diana's divorce was finalised - Diana died following a horrific car crash in Paris, leaving her two sons grief-stricken.

Both William and Harry were staying at Balmoral with Charles at the time, and it was down to their dad to break the terrible news to them.

In 2017, Harry praised Charles for the way he looked after both him and William in the wake of their tragic mother's death.

Charles with Prince William and Prince Harry at Princess Diana's funeral (PA)

In a BBC documentary, Harry said: "One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died. How you deal with that, I don't know. But, you know, he was there for us.

"He was the one out of two left and he tried to do his best to make sure that we were protected and looked after. But you know, he was going through the same grieving process as well."

But in his memoir Spare, Harry recalled how when his father told him of his mother's death, he didn't hug him and admits Charles wasn't cut out to be a single parent.

Closer than William

In 2017, Harry guest-edited The Today programme on BBC Radio 4, where he interviewed Charles - affectionately calling him 'Pa'.

In the interview, Harry revealed how he values his father's opinion saying: "I do end up picking your brains more now than I ever have done."

Speaking last year, royal expert and author Robert Jobson even remarked how Harry had been closer to his father than William.

Wedding woes

In 2016, Harry started dating his now-wife Meghan with the pair tying the knot at St George's Chapel in Windsor in May 2018.

In the lead-up to the wedding, it was revealed that Meghan's father Thomas would not be attending - prompting Charles to step in and walk Meghan part-way down the aisle.

Charles accompanies Meghan Markle up the aisle in St George's Chapel (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking about the moment, Harry told a 2018 BBC documentary: "I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming, and he immediately said 'yes, of course, I'll do whatever Meghan needs and I'm here to support you.'

"For him, that's a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and you know he's our father so of course he's going to be there for us."

Sandringham Summit

However, after just over a year as working royals, Harry and Meghan decided they want to quit the Firm and step down from their roles.

A summit was held at Sandringham between the Queen, Harry, Charles and William to thrash out a deal - and Harry and Meghan eventually settled in California with young son Archie.

It was then that cracks started to appear in the bond between Harry and his father as well as with his brother William.

Harry recounted what happened behind the scenes when the late Queen summoned Charles, William and Harry to Sandringham in his and Meghan's Netflix series and accused Charles of saying things that "were not true".

Oprah fallout and money rows

In March 2021, both Harry and Meghan sat down for a tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey, which proved explosive.

During the bombshell interview, Harry accused his dad of cutting him off financially and claimed he had stopped taking his calls.

"My family literally cut me off financially," Harry said in March.

Harry and Meghan in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey (HARPO PRODUCTIONS/AFP via Getty)

"I've got what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this. I think she saw it coming," Harry said, adding that it was the inspiration behind Harry and Meghan seeking to land a Netflix deal.

Harry also said he felt "really let down" by his father, saying: "He knows what pain feels like.

"Of course I will always love him but there's a lot of hurt that's happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that."

Harry with his dad in 2014 (Getty Images)

Meanwhile in his book King Charles III: Our King, author Robert Jobson claims the late Queen told Harry to go directly to his father when he started complaining about money.

He writes: "Prince Charles simply stopped taking Harry's calls after his son swore at him and repeatedly asked for funds.

"When the Queen asked Charles why he hadn't given in, he told her that he wasn't a bank."

Funeral argument

Just weeks after the bombshell Oprah chat, Harry was back on UK shores in April 2021 to attend the funeral of his grandfather Prince Philip.

Here he came face to face with his dad and William for the first time since - and the trio attempted peace talks after the service.

And in Spare, Harry says his older brother lunged at him with a slanging match ensuing and Charles telling his two sons: "Please, boys - don’t make my final years a misery."

Harry at Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021 (Getty Images)

After the confrontation, the next time Harry saw his father was on a secret visit to the UK a year later along with Meghan, which has been described as cordial yet awkward and in subsequent interview, he refused to say if he missed his dad.

The couple also attended the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, but in a chat with a magazine, just days before the former monarch's death, Meghan cryptically said Harry told her "I lost my dad in this process".

Balmoral row

The next flashpoint in father-son relations came when the late Queen was in her final hours at her beloved Scottish Highlands home Balmoral.

Harry and Meghan just happened to be in the UK on a charity visit when it emerged the former monarch's health had taken a turn for the worse and royals raced to be with her.

Among them were William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, who took a flight from London to Scotland.

Harry took a separate private jet and wrote in his memoir Spare how he was told wife Meghan shouldn't come with him as Kate, the now Princess of Wales and wife of William, wasn't going either.

Harry and Meghan at the funeral of the late Queen last year (AP)

He writes his father told him he was welcome at Balmoral "but he didn't want... her".

He explains: "He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it. Don't ever speak about my wife that way.

"He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn't want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasn't coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldn't."

Days later, when Charles addressed the nation for the first time as King, he expressed his love for Harry and Meghan, but when his younger son came back to the UK last month to attend a legal hearing, the monarch was "too busy" to see him.

Coronation reconciliation?

However, after weeks of dithering, Harry finally confirmed last week that he would attend his father's Coronation in just over two weeks at Westminster Abbey.

But his wife Meghan, 41, is staying at home with their children Prince Archie, whose birthday is on the same day as the Coronation, and Princess Lilibet, who is two in June.

It means Harry will be alone when he meets the King, Queen Consort Camilla and Prince and Princess of Wales for the first time since savaging them in his Netflix series and ­explosive memoir Spare.

However, it has been revealed that Harry will skip the King's Coronation concert to fly back home to the US just hours after watching Charles being crowned.

The Duke of Sussex has told his father, who has been cordial with his younger son, he will not stay for the weekend of celebrations following the historic ceremony on May 6.

But the Mirror's royal editor Russell Myers says it remains to be seen if Harry's trip to the UK will provide an opportunity for him and his dad to reconcile.

He said: "It goes without saying that the King and other senior royals have an awful lot on their plate.

"When it comes to rehearsing and preparing for the May 6 event, Charles will, as a father, be delighted that his youngest son will be by his side for the most important moment in his life - but they will all have to wait for another day to discuss the mending of their devastated relationships."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.