King Charles is really the biggest deadbeat in the world. You know how bad it is? I was actually trying to figure out if there was another super-prominent example of deadbeat-fatherhood, and it occurred to me that even Donald Trump has warmer relations with his children and grandchildren. Sure, I doubt Trump could name any or all of his grandchildren, but he sees all of them with some regularity. It’s been four years since Charles has seen Archie or Lili, and that’s entirely because of his own actions and, as the case may be, his own inaction. He’s never invited the Sussexes for private family gatherings, he’s never invited them to visit Birkhall or Sandringham, he’s never expressed any interest in having a relationship with his two youngest grandkids. And instead of ensuring that the Sussexes will be safe during the first family visit in four years, Charles has gone out of his way to ensure that they will be put in danger at every turn. Well, the Telegraph has a particularly evil and infuriating piece about how Charles feels it’s “now or never” with seeing Archie and Lili. Are you joking??
For a while, it seemed as if the King would be able to spend time with his grandchildren. Harry “just wants his kids to see their grandfather”, a source close to him told The Telegraph. The King would “of course” welcome it, indicated allies of the Monarch. Then at the 11th hour, as Prince Harry pulled out of bringing his wife and children to London, it descended into upset once again.
Will the American school children, sixth and seventh in line to the British throne, see their grandfather? Not unless Prince Harry gets his way with security. He has been “exploring every option” to make it possible, sources close to him say. The King cannot intervene in his family’s taxpayer-funded public security arrangements, Buckingham Palace has said repeatedly. Stalemate.
Palace aides, who thought they were scheduling in an understated reunion behind palace doors, if diaries aligned, are now braced for chaos. The drama surrounding the Sussexes has once again become “tiresome”, says one royal source, mildly. Prince Harry is said to still hope to find a way for a meeting with the King to happen, although it is unclear where and when. The Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet may yet fly to Britain to join the Duke in his programme outside London. Palace aides are fast losing patience, and the logistical challenge of adding things to the King’s carefully planned schedule only gets harder down to the wire.
Harry has “painted himself into a corner”, one source said, and “needs an off-ramp” on the security issue. There is growing discomfort about the Sussex children appearing to be used for “emotional blackmail”, as several critics have put it. The u-turns about the children are starting to make Harry look like a “plonker”, one long-term royal-watcher said.
On Saturday, days before the family was due to arrive, news came that his wife and children would not come to London. The Sussexes have not yet decided about the three other days in their itinerary outside London, in Birmingham for Invictus Games events and at Maxstoke Castle, Warwickshire.
“The Duke continues to explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the UK,” said a spokesman. “Of course the Duke wants his children to see the King,” said another. “He has made no secret of his desire for reconciliation, he wants the children to experience British life, to understand their British heritage and to know and love the people that he knows and loves.”
Whether they arrive or not at all depends on whether Harry can come to terms with his current security arrangements – or persuade his father to intervene, which he constitutionally cannot do. With three days to go until the first public event of his trip, there is no confirmation of plans. Buckingham Palace is said to be none-the-wiser about the finer points of any stay or arrangements to see the King, despite a channel of communication with the Sussexes’ team remaining open. Aides, it is said, are both “wary” and “weary” of the visit already.
“No-one quite knows why it needs to be this hard,” said a source familiar with both camps, suggesting that any such family meet-up did not need to be part of a very public tour. “They could just come quietly and tell people it had happened afterwards – or not at all.”
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said: “I’d like to think that the children are not a bargaining chip in any negotiations Harry may or may not have been having.” The King “must surely be keen to see the children, particularly after a four-year break and the health issues that have plagued him for half of that time,” he added.
The Sussexes now have no meaningful relationship with the Wales family, however. Prince William will not see his brother while they are on the same side of the Atlantic, nor are the child cousins expected to meet. “It hurt,” says a friend simply, of Harry’s multiple accusations about the Prince and Princess of Wales over the years.
Royal sources are at pains to point out that a private, personal meeting between King and his grandchildren would have no ramifications for the Sussexes’ role. They are no longer working members of the family, and there are no plans to change this. “There is still no half-in, half-out,” says one. “It’s what they agreed with the late Queen.”
There is a sense, on both sides, that when it comes to the King and his grandchildren, it could be “now or never” – not because of the King’s health, or the Duke’s security, but logistics.
“Whether they arrive or not at all depends on whether Harry can come to terms with his current security arrangements – or persuade his father to intervene, which he constitutionally cannot do.” The entire British press conveniently forgets that Harry already has an example of what it looks like when the monarch “intervenes” to ensure his family’s safety – Queen Elizabeth made particular arrangements in 2022 to guarantee that royal protection officers would work alongside the Sussexes’ private security. She reportedly even tasked her own RPOs to the Sussexes’ security for their visits. Harry liked that arrangement and it would be easy enough for Charles to simply copy what QEII did. Alas, Charles is a terrible father who seems hellbent on putting the Sussexes in as much danger as possible then blaming Harry and Meghan for daring to look after themselves and their kids. The utter contempt I have for this current wave of palace briefings about “how dare Harry cause such a fuss after we paused the risk assessment and didn’t tell him until he confirmed he was coming!”
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Meghan’s Instagram.
