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Topics: Christmas, Prince Harry, King Charles III, Royal Family, UK News
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Christmas, Prince Harry, King Charles III, Royal Family, UK News
King Charles made the current status of his relationship with Prince Harry painfully clear this Christmas, a royal expert has said.
Reflecting on the annual 3pm speech that the monarch gave on Wednesday (25 Dec), commentator and author Tessa Dunlop believes tensions are still high between the father-son duo.
For those in need of a reminder, the Duke of Sussex has remained somewhat estranged from the rest of his family since he and wife Meghan Markle resigned from their royal duties in 2020.
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The pair also fled from the UK to the US, claiming they'd been subjected to mass maltreatment on behalf of both the British tabloid press, and by several high-profile members of the Firm.
In the years that followed, Harry made a series of damning accusations about his family in the form of his tell-all memoir Spare and his and Meghan's Netflix documentary.
As well as accusing brother William of having 'pushed him to the ground' in a discussion about his wife, and alleging that Queen Camilla previously sold stories to the press on their lives, he made some controversial comments about Charles.
"He had trouble communicating, trouble listening, trouble being intimate face-to-face," he penned. "On occasion, after a long multi-course dinner, I’d walk upstairs and find a letter on my pillow. The letter would say how proud he was of me for something I’d done or accomplished.
"I’d smile, place it under my pillow, but also wonder why he hadn’t said this moments ago, while seated directly across from me."
And after Charles was officially crowned in May 2023, Harry famously fled the royal celebrations early, returning home to the States.
That said, however, it looked as though a rekindling could be on the horizon for the pair when Harry told US TV that he 'jumped on a plane' as soon as he caught wind of his father's cancer diagnosis, claiming: "I'll stop in and see my family as much as I can."
As such, many followers of the royal family had hopes that this festive season would mark a period of both forgiveness and reparation between 40-year-old Harry, his father, and his brother - though, expert Tessa Dunlop believes the trio couldn't be further from making amends.
The main reason behind her assertion? Charles excluding his youngest son from his annual Christmas Day speech.
In a pre-recorded message from London's Fitzrovia Chapel of the former Middlesex Hospital, the 76-year-old King began by commending UK communities for their response to the riots that plagued the country earlier this year.
He also thanked medical staff for the part they played in treating both himself and the Princess of Wales following their cancer diagnoses.
Charles' address also gave a special shout out to future king, William - accompanied by a clip of him serving food to the homeless - as well as the royal family as a whole.
He failed, however, to mention Harry or Meghan in any capacity.
The pair also joined scandal-ridden Prince Andrew in the list of members left out of the special speech - something which Tessa believes indicates that Charles has 'made up his mind' about the Sussexes.
"As well as a replay of the King's famous hug with the New Zealand women's rugby team," she recalled.
"There was footage of Kate at Trooping the Colour, Camilla in Scotland and Australia, William serving food to the homeless and, of course, those Royal stalwarts, Princess Anne and the Edinburghs."
Tessa added: "Crucially, also-rans Princes Andrew and Harry were nowhere to be seen.
"The King has clearly made up his mind about how to 'act for the good of all', choosing to focus on family strengths, not weaknesses, to shore up a nation (and a world) for a difficult year ahead."