Prince Harry hasn’t just “burned his bridges” with the Royal Family, but “bombed them into matchsticks”, Piers Morgan has claimed. The journalist made the claim after the Duke of Sussex visited Britain to see King Charles in the wake of the monarch’s cancer diagnosis.
Harry flew more than 5,000 miles from California to see his father in London, but did not see his estranged brother, Prince William, during a visit which lasted barely 24 hours.
Morgan claimed in an op-ed published by Sky News Australia that William wants nothing to do with Harry, despite the Duke’s “friends” reportedly briefing the media he would be willing to meet the future king.
He wrote that what is happening to the Royal Family now feels “existential”, with the King’s cancer diagnosis coming after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew and the Sussexes’ bombshell allegations of racism.
The high profile TalkTV presenter, who is a regular critic of the Sussexes and has accused Harry of wanting to bring down the monarchy in the past, said he understood why William wouldn’t want to meet his brother.
Morgan asked how you can ever forgive a brother who, along with his wife, brands your family “a bunch of callous racists” on national TV and trashes your wife in a Netflix documentary by suggesting you only married her because she “fits the mould” of a royal bride.
He commented: “The cold, hard reality is that Harry hasn’t just burned his bridges with the royals, he’s bombed them into matchsticks — and I’m told many of the family want nothing more to do with either him or Meghan. That’s certainly William’s view — and who can blame him?”
Morgan concluded that the “real royal show” had to go on for Prince William, despite the “deep” worries he must have for his wife Princess Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, and his father.
The Prince of Wales himself spoke about the King’s cancer diagnosis for the first time on Wednesday (February 7) as he expressed his gratitude to the public for their “kind messages of support”.
William’s words of praise, delivered during a fundraising gala dinner in London, also recognised those who wished the Princess of Wales well, as she recovers from planned abdominal surgery. He told the guests: “It means a great deal to us all.”
While Morgan’s claims suggest Harry has done little to repair relations with his brother, others have suggested his flying visit to the UK will be a positive move.
Pauline Maclaran, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Research at the School of Business and Management Marketing, Royal Holloway University, said the length of Harry’s visit was unsurprising.
She told Daily Express US: “This does seem to be a very positive step in terms of developing better relations with his father. I imagine he may make a longer visit in due course to allow the King to meet his grandchildren face to face.”
Professor Maclaran said the absence of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, on this last visit was appropriate and a sign she realised the need to stay out of the limelight.
