Tensions reportedly rise between King and heir as Charles warms to Harry after Clarence House tea
Prince Harry has taken a tentative step toward reconciliation with King Charles III after their long-awaited private meeting at Clarence House — but the visit appears to have stirred deeper tensions between the King and Prince William.
After 19 months of estrangement, Harry reunited with his cancer-stricken father last week for a 45-minute tea, which Buckingham Palace described as “pleasant.” While tensions between father and son remain, insiders say a larger rift has been quietly growing between Charles and his heir.
British-American journalist Tina Brown told The Daily Beast that Charles is “currently less irritated with the prodigal Harry than he is with his elder son and heir.” She noted that despite undergoing cancer treatment, the King has “carried out official engagements on 175 days during the past 12 months,” while William has taken “five confirmed family vacations in the past seven months.”
She added that when William returned to work, he began with lighter public appearances, including a “father-daughter outing to a Women’s Rugby World Cup pool match and a stroll through the Natural History Museum’s new gardens.”
According to a friend of the future king, William sees his father as “weak” for engaging with Harry and believes “no member of the family should burnish Harry’s status by meeting him.”
Charles, however, is said to “instinctively want to reconcile” with Harry — something William has long feared could allow his estranged brother to find a way back into the royal fold. Those fears, it seems, may now be coming true.
