A royal commentator has claimed that Prince Harry had broken an unspoken rule in attempts to arrange reconciliation talks with King Charles that has now complicated his efforts to rebuild his relationship with his father. The breach relates to Harry’s public comments about private family matters.
Royal commentator Charlotte Griffiths spoke to GB News about the result of speaking publicly about private matters, meaning the King might be cautious about future meetings with his son. The royal commentator spoke of the King’s potential requirements: “I think he would be willing to meet his demands and it is a pretty simple demand, it is ‘if I talk to you, can it not leak out on Oprah Winfrey or any other programme?'”
She explained: “What will definitely happen is some ground rules for communications. What Harry cannot do is repeat what goes on in private conversations.”
The commentator added: “Harry really wants reconciliation and to be able to freely speak to his father. At the moment he cannot get through to his father. He has to go through his aides.”
In May, the Duke of Sussex spoke exclusively to the BBC about his prospects of returning to the UK and the relationship with his family. He made the comments after losing his latest legal challenge against the UK government over his security – a decision which he says has left him vulnerable to threats on his life.
The prince told BBC America: “I don’t know how much longer my father has – he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff but it would be nice to reconcile.”
The royal expert emphasised the severity of this breach: “He broke the cardinal rule which was speculating on the King’s health.”
The expert further clarified the situation to the news outlet: “I don’t think someone said, ‘this is how long Charles has left, now place organise this meeting’, I don’t think it’s at that stage.”
Meredith Maines, the duke’s chief communications officer, and Liam Maguire, who runs Harry and Meghan’s UK public relations team, were pictured meeting with Tobyn Andreae, the King’s communications secretary, at the Royal Over-Seas League near Clarence House, last Wednesday.
The images were obtained by The Mail On Sunday, with the paper quoting a source saying there was no “formal agenda” to the meeting, but there were “things both sides wanted to talk about”.