King Charles may never be reunited with his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet after Prince Harry refuses to bring his family to the UK, sources fear.
The Duke of Sussex said last week he would not travel to Britain with his wife Meghan due to security fears over a knife or acid attack by a “lone actor.”
Royal experts told The Mail on Sunday that the statement means the King will become “increasingly distant” from the children in an “incredibly sad situation”.
King Charles last saw Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, in June 2022 when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Prince Harry, 39, has returned to the UK several times since then without his wife and children due to his legal battle with the government over the loss of his taxpayer-funded security.
Sources fear the King may never see his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet again, as Harry has cited security concerns as a reason for not bringing his family to the UK.
The Duke of Sussex said he would not travel with his wife to the UK over fears of a knife or acid attack by a “lone actor”
Prince Harry appeared to confirm that he will travel alone in the future in an interview with ITV
The rift between the Sussexes and the King threatens to become a chasm, sources warn
As part of his ongoing campaign against British journalism, he suggested that an attacker might be inspired by something he read in a tabloid.
In an interview with ITV, the Duke of Sussex seems to have confirmed that he will travel alone in the future: “All it takes is a lone actor reading these things and acting on them. And whether it’s a knife or acid, these are things that really worry me. It’s one of the reasons why I won’t be bringing my wife back to this country.”
Asked whether the recent cancer diagnoses of his father and sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, had made him reconsider his legal battles with the press, the Prince replied tersely that they were “two completely different things”.
Harry said his fight against the press has been “a central piece” in the breakdown of his relationship with his family, saying: “For me, the mission continues, but it has caused… part of a rift.”
But when it comes to King Charles and the Sussex children, that rift threatens to become a chasm.
“It would be fantastic to think that at some point in the future the King will be able to visit his grandchildren, whom he has seen very little of, but he is 75 and still not in the best of health,” said Joe Little, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine.
‘A visit to the United States is unlikely to be a priority now, given the other demands on his time.
“It’s an incredibly sad situation that few would have predicted five years ago.”
Royal author Margaret Holder added: “It is very difficult for the monarch to travel as a private person. It would take all kinds of diplomacy to get the king to California to see the children.”
“So if the children cannot come here and the King cannot go there, we are faced with a situation where Grandpa, who is undergoing cancer treatment, is increasingly far away.”
Prince Harry and Meghan with Archie in May 2019, then a newborn son
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Archie met Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa in September 2019
There is frustration behind palace walls at suggestions that King Charles “could resolve” the rift by returning police protection to Prince Harry, but that power lies in the hands of RAVEC, the committee in charge of royal security.
Frustration is brewing behind palace walls at suggestions that King Charles “could fix” the rift by restoring police protection to Prince Harry. But that power rests exclusively with RAVEC, the Home Office committee that oversees royal security.
For a prince living in a country where a former president recently survived an assassination attempt, eyebrows were also raised at the intensity of the duke’s security fears regarding the UK.
“You have to ask yourself: is the UK any less dangerous than the US, where gun crime is so prevalent there?” Little said.
In February, Prince Harry lost his High Court appeal to overturn a ruling that there was nothing unlawful about the decision to reduce his police protection because he was a non-working royal.
He intends to appeal, but most expect him to travel only to Britain for the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027.
Harry had reportedly expressed an interest in renting apartments one and seven at Kensington Palace during his visits to the UK, which are police-secured and undergoing renovation. However, the Foreign Office understands the apartments would not be allocated for his use.
“This whole thing is a disaster,” Holder said. “I would add that it is Prince Harry who increased the risk to himself, his wife and his family by boasting about killing 25 Taliban fighters in his book.
“So King Charles is forced to be a distant grandfather whom his grandchildren never see.”
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