King Charles and Prince William ‘Barely Speak’ — and Reconciliation with Harry Isn't the Only Reason Why
The tension inside the House of Windsor isn’t only about Prince Harry. According to a royal insider, King Charles and Prince William’s relationship has become so strained that father and son 'barely speak,' with most of their communication filtered through staff. The cause of the rift reportedly lies in three disagreements: modernisation, duty, and health; the situation made worse by Harry’s looming return to the UK.
Tom Sykes, royal correspondent for the Daily Beast, reports that Charles and William “do not meet informally as a rule” and spent little to no time together during the royal family’s Balmoral holiday earlier this summer. Instead, Charles is said to have “withdrawn to the privacy of his own home, Birkhall,” avoiding one-on-one interaction with his son. “The vast majority of their communication,” Sykes writes, “is mediated by their private secretaries.”
Sykes suggests the distance between Charles and William is rooted in long-standing scars. William’s experience of his parents’ marriage breakdown— and Charles’ well-publicised affair with Camilla — has shaped a relationship that was never straightforward. He also cites claims that Charles was a 'poor parent' who was “often absent and remains distant from his Wales grandchildren.” That history has left an imprint on how William views both his father and the monarchy itself.
There are three main points of conflict beyond their differences over Harry, reports the Scottish Daily Express. First, William reportedly believes that his father’s reign is already falling behind the times. Sykes writes that William “thinks Charles’ monarchy has not modernized as much as it should have, and still radiates pomposity and looks out of touch thanks to Charles’s love of uniforms and ermine.” Second, William is said to disapprove of the way Charles puts duty ahead of personal well-being. The King’s insistence on maintaining a packed schedule, even through health setbacks, has clashed with William’s belief that personal balance should come first. Third, from Charles’s perspective, William isn’t pulling his weight as a working royal. Sykes claims Charles believes, as heir apparent, William “is shirking the most basic element of the job: appearing in person all over the country, rain or shine, prioritizing family life over royal duty.”
These tensions have already played out publicly. Earlier this year, William reportedly had to be pressed into attending the funeral of Pope Francis, a duty Charles considered unavoidable. He also declined to appear at the VJ Day commemorations, a move that left some aides and courtiers frustrated. Behind Palace doors, the dynamic has been summed up by one insider as “tense, difficult, formal, and fraught.” A friend of William’s insists, however, that the Prince of Wales is still “a loyal soldier” who “respects his father’s rank.” But when it comes to Harry, that loyalty hardens into firm opposition. The same friend told Sykes that William thinks “a Harry meeting is a terrible, terrible idea.”