Prince Andrew won’t be celebrating Christmas with the royals at Sandringham this year. But Prince Harry will also not be getting an invite, according to a friend of the royal family via Vanity Fair.
Despite Prince Harry’s recent face-to-face meeting with King Charles, “it’s not the case that Harry is going to be welcomed back with open arms and certainly not in time for Christmas,” a friend of the royal family told Vanity Fair.
“As far as the king is concerned, the door has always been left open for Harry, but Harry has to pass the trust test. If he does, then I think there could well be another meeting in the new year.”
King Charles has been willing to meet with Harry but Prince William has “no intention” of speaking to his brother, the source said.
“With things being so dire between William and Harry, I’m not sure Harry would even want to be at Sandringham for Christmas,” the source added. “It would be very awkward. He knows he’d probably get quite a frosty reception from most of the family.”
Prince Harry has reportedly not spoken to his brother, Prince William, since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022, according to The Sun. William was said to be upset with how Harry and Meghan Markle announced their decision to step down as working royals.
Since then, their relationship has further deteriorated, especially after Harry went public about his reasons for leaving Britain. His bombshell interview with Oprah and the revelations in his memoir, ‘Spare’, including an alleged physical altercation between the brothers, have added to the tension.
Despite this, Harry has expressed a desire to reconcile with his family and recently met with his father, King Charles, during a visit to the UK. Following this meeting, The Daily Mail reported that Harry has accused “men in gray suits” (advisers to King Charles) of attempting to sabotage his reconciliation efforts. In his 2023 memoir, ‘Spare’, Harry criticized palace courtiers for their “Machiavellian maneuvers.”
Palace aides have rejected his claims, insisting that they did not intend to undermine the reunion. They highlighted that the head of press for King Charles facilitated the meeting with Harry’s director of communications, which ultimately resulted in the reunion on September 10th.
Harry is said to be desperate to repair the rift with his father and family. This week, he hit back at a report in The Sun that the meeting with his father had been “distinctly formal.”
“Recent reporting of the Duke’s view of the tone of the meeting is categorically false. The quotes attributed to him are pure invention fed, one can only assume, by sources intent on sabotaging any reconciliation between father and son,” a spokesperson for Harry said.
It is reported that Harry had given King Charles a framed photo of his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The spokesperson did confirm that Harry had given his father a framed photograph, but said that the “image did not contain the duke and duchess.”
