Royal biographer says Harry is no longer a priority for the King
Harry’s hopes of rebuilding his relationship with King Charles appear to be slipping away, with fresh claims suggesting he has lost much of his father’s trust and influence.
According to royal biographer Tom Bower, the Duke of Sussex’s recent attempts to reconnect have not delivered the breakthrough he may have been expecting. Speaking to Express UK, Bower said that even a rare one-on-one meeting during Harry’s UK visit in the summer of 2025 failed to change the wider picture.
Bower pointed to the deep divide that has grown since Harry stepped back from royal life nearly five years ago, saying the damage has not been repaired despite renewed gestures of reconciliation.
“Harry clearly met his father with the hope that he could ingratiate himself back into the family,” Bower said. “But it isn’t going to work. There is just no way back for him.”
He added that while Harry has publicly spoken about concerns over how much time the King may have left, those worries do not translate into renewed closeness. “I don’t think he’s that high up on Charles’ list of priorities,” Bower claimed.
The biographer also suggested that Meghan Markle remains a complicating factor. He noted that her strained relationship with her own family, and reported reluctance to return to Britain, undermines any chance of a smooth reconciliation with the royal household.
As a result, Bower believes Harry’s personal instincts are being pulled in opposing directions, leaving him increasingly isolated. “The result is they are left in a very isolated place at Christmas,” he said.
