Prince Harry said his father, King Charles III, "won't speak" to him amid a continuing fallout over his royal security status, acknowledging in a new BBC interview that "some members of my family will never forgive me." The interview followed a Court of Appeal ruling on May 2 dismissing the Duke of Sussex's challenge against the UK government's decision to downgrade his police protection.
The Duke, who stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and relocated to California with his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, lost his legal battle to reinstate full taxpayer-funded security while visiting the UK. The ruling from Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis confirmed the decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which had determined Harry's protection level should be reduced.
"He won't speak to me because of this security stuff," Harry said of King Charles. "Of course some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book, of course they will never forgive me for lots of things, but I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore."
In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry detailed long-standing tensions within the royal family, including a physical altercation with his brother Prince William and critical recollections of palace dynamics following the death of their mother, Princess Diana. "This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey," Harry told PEOPLE when the book was released.
The Duke said he no longer feels it is safe to bring Meghan and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, back to the UK. "Look at the facts. Look at the risk, look at the threat, look at the impact that if anything was to happen to me, my wife or my father's grandchildren... look where the responsibility lies," he said.
According to royal sources cited by PEOPLE, Harry has not been updated directly about the King's health following last year's cancer diagnosis and reportedly learned of a recent hospital visit through the media. A palace source stated, "I don't think there is any rapprochement," while another added, "They are distant."
Harry recalled one of his last in-person meetings with King Charles took place in early 2023, shortly after news of the monarch's illness emerged. Despite hopes for reconciliation, the meeting was brief, and the pair have not seen each other face-to-face since.
Speaking to The Mirror, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said, "He always loved Harry - he called him 'darling boy'. And I'm sure he still does love Harry and would love even more to be able to spend time with Archie and Lilibet."
Bond added that Charles, who maintains close relationships with his other grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, may feel a deeper sense of loss as his illness progresses. "As his struggle with cancer continues, he thinks more about the great loss of not being able to spend time with Harry's children," she said.
Relations between Harry and Prince William remain similarly strained. "I always imagined Harry and William remaining close and enjoying watching their children grow up together," Bond said. "But there is absolutely no sign of the cousins ever getting to know one another."
