ROYAL RIFT | [When did it begin?]

Royal snapper claims King and his son were ‘not talking’ months before he left the UK

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Published In Features 1 min read
King Charles and Prince Harry
King Charles and Prince Harry
(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

Relations are currently frosty between King Charles and his youngest son, Prince Harry.While many assumed that things took a downwards turn following the events of 2020, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals and later made a number of bombshell allegations, a royal insider has suggested that things weren’t great sometime before then.Charles was on an official visit to Germany when Harry and Meghan welcomed their first child, Archie, in May 2019 and later said he ‘couldn't be more delighted’ by the birth of his new grandchild.However, in a new revelation from his book, Cup of Tea, Arthur? royal photographer Arthur Edwards has claimed that the King - then Prince of Wales - wasn’t on speaking terms with Harry at the time.He recalled, ‘When my phone pinged, I showed Camilla pictures of little Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in his parents' arms.’ ‘Camilla said, “Can you show it to the Prince?”Just then, Julian Payne, the Prince's press secretary, said quietly, “No, don't do that, Arthur.”’ When asked why, Julian reportedly replied, ‘“He's not talking to his son,”’ with Arthur adding that this was ‘the first [he] knew that there was acrimony’ between the father and son.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with newborn Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in May 2019

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with newborn Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in May 2019

(Image credit: WPA/Pool/Getty Images)

Rebuilding relationship

Now that Harry and Meghan are back living in the UK, it is understood that they are attempting to repair their relationship with Charles. In the summer he was reunited with his grandchildren, Archie and five-year-old Lilibet, for the first time since June 2022.In July Buckingham Palace confirmed that the King and Queen hosted the Sussexes at Highgrove House, describing the meeting at the King's private home in Gloucestershire as a ‘private family occasion.’

Ariana Longson
Ariana Longson
Celebrity and Entertainment writer

Ariana is a celebrity and entertainment writer working across Woman, Woman&Home, woman&home.com Woman’s Own and Woman’s Weekly. She began her journalism career doing freelance work for Now Magazine while studying for her undergraduate English degreeWhen she’s not rubbing shoulders with and interviewing A-listers, you’ll find Ariana visiting London’s trendiest venues, most often wearing pink and drinking over-priced wine.