TOUGH TALK
Harry ‘promised to “respect the institution” in letter to Charles’ after Oprah chat sparked ‘communication breakdown’
PRINCE Harry vowed to "respect the institution" in a letter to Charles after he and Meghan's interview with Oprah caused a "complete communication breakdown", it's reported.
The Duke of Sussex penned a "deeply personal" note to his "very hurt" father after the bombshell chat, which aired last month.
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Sadly, the pair haven't yet manged to repair their relationship, it's reported, with royal commentator Russell Myers telling ITV's Lorraine: "Charles and William are still very hurt."
Charles is now at his Welsh boltholt to grieve Prince Philip's death alone, while Harry will soon return to pregnant Meghan Markle in the US after sources said he felt "terrible" about leaving her and is desperate to go home.
But it's reported Harry has taken steps to try to repair the damage done after his relationship with his father "hit rock bottom".
It comes as:
- The Queen was ‘disappointed’ with the Oprah interview
- Princess Anne and Sophie Wessex will be among the Queen's first visitors on her birthday tomorrow
- Prince Philip 'left his 17-year-old granddaughter his beloved carriage and horses'
- The Queen drove herself to a favourite spot in Windsor for quiet contemplation after the funeral
Sources close to the Duke of Sussex say he was "forced to write letters" after a "complete communication breakdown",
Harry told Oprah he had become partially estranged from Charles after the couple decided on Megxit.
He said he had "three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father, before he stopped taking my calls".
And in his letters, he told Charles of his reasons for leaving - while promising to "respect the institution", it's claimed.
William is understood to be struggling with how to move forward after Meghan and Harry's TV interview, during which they accused a senior royal of making a racist comment and claimed Kate Middleton made Meghan cry.
Harry also said his brother and father were "trapped" by the monarchy - and said his relationship with William had become one of ";space".
And although the brothers were seen chatting after Philip's funeral, their relationship is said to be "extremely frosty".
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Palace insiders revealed both future kings were “outraged” at the suggestion they were stuck within their roles.
Elsewhere, the Queen is said to be "disappointed" at some of the claims made in the interview. She publicly said she was "saddened" by Meghan and Harry's unhappiness as senior royals - but added: "Recollections may vary."
A royal source told the paper: “Truth be told, Harry didn’t really know what to expect before he came home, which is why he reached out before seeing everyone.
“He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped.
“There had been a kind of unspoken agreement between everyone to park whatever has been on each person’s mind, and solely concentrate on supporting the Queen ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral.
“The feeling inside the camp was that it wasn’t the time nor the place to go over things, especially at such an emotional time for everybody involved.
“Harry didn’t expect everything to be completely back to normal, but his feeling after seeing his family was there is a lot of ground to make up.
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“Whether that is harder or easier to do on the other side of the world remains to be seen.
“There is a lot of distrust in the camp and everything is still very, very raw.”
Mr Myers said on Lorraine today that Charles had hoped to spend more time with his youngest son.
"We were told last week there was a tight schedule. Meghan is heavily pregnant so he's got to get back," he said.
"Charles did want to see him but was told schedule wouldn't allow it."
And he said Harry faces a "long road back" with his family.
";Tensions are still running very, very high," he said.
"A lot of allegations were thrown out and it certainly wasn't time to be settling those at the funeral.
'HARRY FACES A LONG ROAD BACK'
"We do know Charles, William, Kate and Harry got together for couple of hours after funeral, but I don't think anything was settled."
In the meantime, Charles is likely to be grappling with his next steps after Philip called him to his sickbed in the weeks before he died.
He and William will meet for a major summit on the future of the monarchy.
The two will decide which royals will continue to work and what they should do.
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie Wessex - hailed as the Queen's "rock" - are likely to take on more senior roles to fill the space left by Harry and Meghan.
And father and son are said to be "totally aligned" that there's "no way back" for Prince Andrew.
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A source told the Mirror: “One of the main issues with Harry and Meghan when they were part of the working family was their inability to understand how things worked.
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"It’s been a lot simpler without them kicking off over why they couldn’t just do what they wanted.
“Things are a lot calmer.”
Prince Harry claims his father and brother are ‘trapped within the system’ like the rest of the Royal Family are
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