Prince Harry: the currently impossible forgiveness of Charles III and William to the 'wayward son'

Eduardo Alvarez

Updated Friday, February 23, 2024-9:40 p.m.

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In the midst of the Shakespearean-tinged drama plaguing the British royal family, the reappearance of Charles III this week at Buckingham Palace to hold his weekly office with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in person has helped, at least for the moment, both to dispel doubts that

the king continues to be in charge of the most relevant matters

of the head of state, as well as to convey the feeling that

cancer treatment

has not essentially altered the functioning of the Crown.

Such a public gesture

by the monarch seemed necessary

after weeks in which the London throne has been affected by

all kinds of speculation

, especially those that once again had Prince Harry as the protagonist, the greatest destabilizing actor for the institution in this moment.

And all his steps since the sovereign's illness was reported have clashed with the

palace strategy

of trying to instill public opinion with calm,

an image of stability

and, as far as possible, normality.

Thus, experts on the British Monarchy did not take long to emphasize the error involved in the express trip of the second of Charles III's sons to visit him, due to the circumstances that surrounded him.

And equally damaging has been the probe spread by

The Times

about the

willingness that Harry

would have expressed to his closest circle to once again assume tasks representing the Crown while his mother's convalescence lasts.

This Kafkaesque possibility had to be immediately denied by Buckingham sources.

The

wayward prince

made the decision to stop being an active member of the royal family and that is something that is

irreversible today.

King Charles III with Rishi Sunak this week during their meeting at Buckinham Palace.GTRES

But, above all, if there is something worrying about this excess of Harry's prominence, it is because of the feeling of alarm it spreads.

As if things are much worse than there is no known reason to think they are.

Not to mention how in such a delicate moment of health for Charles III and the Princess of Wales, Kate, the youngest son of the late Lady Di manages again to ensure that

the great media focus

is on the

shattered relationship. with his entire family

, especially with his father and, above all, with his brother Guillermo, the heir.

"I love my family

. And I'm grateful that I could get on a plane and go see my dad and spend some time with him," Harry said of his less than 24-hour trip from the US to London just hours after Buckingham gave to know the

king's diagnosis

, a cancer that would have been detected during the surgery for an

enlarged prostate

to which he underwent in January.

The prince spoke for the first time about his father's illness from Canada for the

Good Morning America

program , interviewed by Will Reeve, son of the unforgettable Superman Christopher Reeve.

But Harry went further by answering affirmatively to whether an illness in the family could have a "reunifying effect": "Yes, I'm sure. I think any illness brings families together."

Once again, it contravened the Windsors' wish not to speak in public about dirty linen that should be washed at home, especially if this is Buckingham Palace.

To know more

LOC.

Prince Harry will not be able to play a temporary role in the British Monarchy

• Editorial: EFE London

Prince Harry will not be able to play a temporary role in the British Monarchy

24 hours.

A brief meeting with his father Carlos III, without being able to see his brother Guillermo and already back in California

• Editor: MARÍA SIERRA London

A brief meeting with his father Carlos III, without being able to see his brother Guillermo and already back in California

Harry's relationship

with his brother

has been completely broken since January last year.

If before, since the decision of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to leave London and stop being active members of the royal family, their few meetings - such as the one at the funeral of Elizabeth II - had been tense, the worldwide publication of the explosive book of memoirs

In the shadows

,

in which Harry leaves no stone unturned, was the last straw for the Prince of Wales's patience.

That work, a great editorial hit that would have sold at least 3.5 million copies, caricatures such relevant members of the institution as the kings themselves - especially Camila - and Guillermo - who is even presented as someone violent. - And his wife.

However, the truth is that in the United Kingdom, far from what the Windsors feared, the pages full of ill will did not harm the image of the royal family.

On the contrary, the heir maintains a

popularity close to 70%

.

While

the affection of the British towards Harry plummeted.

However, the memoirs were dynamite for the institution in parts of the globe as important as America.

All

the controversy of the book

, added to the comments and interviews totally out of place of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, slipping traps as serious as the fact that the Windsors were a racist family, has hit the popularity of the Monarchy in the United States. or in nations on the continent that have Charles III as head of state, including Jamaica or Canada.

So, beyond self-love, Guillermo established, out of pure responsibility, a

cordon sanitaire in front of his brother

, whom he rightly holds responsible for causing the greatest damage to the institution that he is called to assume at the time.

Putting the sense of duty and the preservation of the Crown before any personal feelings, the future king has acted in the last long year making it very clear that

he is not going to give his brother even water

from him, at least as long as he does not change his attitude.

Therefore, no one was surprised that

Guillermo refused to meet him

on the aforementioned express trip a few days ago to London.

Nor was there any meeting between the two in May of last year, during the days of the king's coronation celebration.

Or during

William and Kate's 2023 trip to the United States

, when they were just a few kilometers away from Harry and Meghan.

In the case of Charles III, with a more delicate position, although in relation to his son he has put his duties as monarch first - hence issues as relevant to the institution as the non-preferential place in which Harry was seated in Westminster during the coronation, given that it was about highlighting that he is no longer a member of the institution-, he has shown himself

to be conciliatory as a father

.

And from those closest to the king it has always been made known that

he does not lose hope that Harry will ever return to the fold.

But this could only happen if he abides by the dynasty's rules and stops trying to impose his own.

It was at the popularly known as the

Sandringham Summit

, on January 13, 2020, chaired by Queen Elizabeth II, when the

break between Harry and the Crown was consummated.

The prince, reunited with his grandmother, his father and his brother - Meghan had gone with her son Archie to Canada - tried to get them to accept his demand to continue representing the royal family part-time.

He intended to be on the plate and on the chopping block: live outside his country, be able to do private business, maintain official security and go to the United Kingdom for the events in which he was required.

The Windsors let him know that there were only two options: either continue as always or

completely separate from the institution

, which was what the wayward prince chose.

William and Kate with Harry and Meghan in their last appearance together after the death of Queen Elizabeth.GTRES

What at that decisive Summit no one could imagine is that Harry and his wife were not only going to renounce their institutional roles, but that they were going to earn a lot of money, among other ways, with documentaries or books like the one mentioned, based exclusively on the morbidity of putting to parsley broth to the most media-rich royal family on the planet.

Elizabeth II granted her grandson the title of

Duke of Sussex

, among others, on the occasion of her wedding to Meghan in 2018. But, after the Sandringham meeting, the couple committed to stop using the title of Royal Highness and to separate themselves by full of the dignities inherent to the dynasty for its private commercial activities.

All agreements reached then remain in force today.

And yet, just a few days ago Harry and Meghan once again demonstrated their double standards by launching their new and controversial website Sussex.com, in which from the same name they make it clear

how they continue to take advantage of their noble title

.

The portal even includes the coat of arms that was assigned to them when they married in 2018. And at the same time they announced that their two children

will no longer have Mountbatten-Windsor as their last name to use Sussex

.

In short, pure incoherence of those who said they wanted to distance themselves from their real destiny like the plague.