I do feel for King Charles. Prince Harry is bringing his Invictus Games to Birmingham in July next year and will invite his father to attend. There’s even some suggestion Harry will ask the King to open the eight-day Paralympic-style games for service personnel.
As head of state and head of the UK armed forces it makes perfect sense.
As Harry’s father, now on seemingly better terms with his younger son, it marks another potential step on the road to reconciliation after the very public family pain and blood-letting of Oprah, the Netflix documentary and Spare.
I’m told by a close Sussex source that the pair 'speak regularly' and that ‘Harry often rings his dad’.
But while it appears the King has softened in his attitude to the Duke of Sussex and would like to see his grandchildren, Prince William’s position has not changed.
He hasn’t spoken to his brother for a long time - I’m told that texts and emails go unanswered, there is no communication with his Kensington Palace office and both sides now accept the stalemate. It is officially 'no speaks'.
Moreover, the Prince of Wales is not keen on the King being seen to give Harry any kind of formal public legitimacy back in the UK.
Were he to appear onstage in Birmingham with his 'darling boy', opening what is Harry’s defining legacy on its return to the UK, it would certainly be a PR coup for Team Sussex (it rather reminds me of the ‘King in the North’ storyline in Game of Thrones - although as a proud Brummie I’d never say we’re the North!).
This then sets up a very difficult decision for the King. Whose side does he take between his warring sons?
For this is both a personal and very political decision. And it encapsulates one of the enduring problems of the King’s reign - how to deal with Harry.
Taking Harry’s 'side' means effectively welcoming his wayward younger son back into the royal fold. The Duke of Sussex may not be a working royal, having ejected himself so vehemently, but most people will not make that distinction if pictures of the pair side by side are beamed around the world.
William understands that Harry must be kept at arm’s length
It’s one thing inviting Harry to a private tea at Clarence House as the King did last autumn - a meeting I’m told that was set up by the two men themselves, not their aides.
But it’s quite another to give Harry such a show of public support after the poisonous brickbats he’s hurled against both the institution and his family. For much of the British public, it will be the fact that Harry has spent years monetising those attacks on the institution his father embodies that will have gone down so badly.
And thus Prince William understands that for the monarchy’s preservation Harry must be kept at arm’s length. It’s a clean break - you’re either in or you’re out (as the late Queen so perceptively dictated).
Moreover, every time the King either sees Harry, or lets it be known that he won’t (as he did earlier this year when Harry was in London for his court case against the Daily Mail) a flurry of briefings ensue.
Either from the Duke’s aides who tell me, 'Obviously the institution doesn’t want him to make up with his father. It makes it more difficult for them.' Or from Harry himself, who recently implied his father’s courtiers were trying to 'sabotage' their relationship.
Certainly those whose job it is to protect the institution fear the King’s potential reconciliation with his younger son makes him look weak after Harry’s repeated public lashing-out.
It's unlikely the Prince of Wales will ever reconcile with his younger brother
Friends of William are concerned that Charles is yet again allowing Harry and Meghan to set the narrative.
They say it’s unlikely that the Prince of Wales will ever reconcile with his younger brother, particularly given Harry’s refusal to apologise for his repeated slurs against the family, including accusation of racism.
If the King were to open the Invictus Games, he, in effect, would be choosing Harry’s side after previously indicating a tougher stance when he refused to meet Harry for 19 months before last September.
Yet picking William’s 'side' and not showing up to Brum next year would be hugely disrespectful to the valour and self-sacrifice of the UK’s armed forces, not to mention the amazing resilience and spirit of the Invictus Games.
Fortunately, I may have found the King a get-out. The games run from 10 to 17 July and it is Queen Camilla’s 80th birthday on 17 July. Perhaps they can both be away on a celebratory cruise that week…
This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.
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