Why King Charles Having a Relationship With Prince Harry Is Crucial to the Crown
Through centuries of upheaval, the Crown has endured by holding fast to continuity while adapting to change, with the heir and the spare anchoring that balance. Now, as speculation grows about a possible reconciliation between King Charles and Prince Harry, the spare, a royal insider argues that the King cannot afford to turn his back on his younger son, because doing so risks undermining the very foundation of the monarchy.
Speaking to Daily Express US, former royal photographer Ian Pelham Turner stressed that the King’s role as head of the family is inseparable from his duty as sovereign. “The monarchy is still standing because of its continuity and adaptability,” he explained. “For King Charles to turn his back on his younger son, Prince Harry, he’s turning his back on the foundation of the institution.” The comments come at a moment when father and son could soon come face-to-face. Harry is set to return to Britain for the annual WellChild Awards today. While no meeting has been confirmed, reports suggest that the King may be open to seeing him. If it happens, it would mark their first encounter since February 2024.
Pelham Turner, who spent years photographing the royal family and worked closely with Charles and Princess Diana, believes that maintaining a bond with Harry is not optional but essential. The dynamic between the royal brothers remains fraught. Prince William and Harry are not on speaking terms and, according to some reports, have not spoken properly in five years. Yet Pelham Turner insists that Charles cannot allow those tensions to dictate the future. “Charles has had a great deal of experience, and he had the Queen to guide him most of the time,” he said. “Continuity of monarchy is the most important thing of the lot.”
For him, the debate is more about recognizing that both William and Harry matter to the institution. A fractured family weakens the image of unity that the monarchy relies upon. “Charles is being urged to have a relationship with each of his sons, even if separately,” Pelham Turner stressed. The expert also pushed back against the constant barrage of criticism aimed at Harry and Meghan Markle, arguing that it has the opposite of its intended effect. “In reality, the biggest mistake that anyone from the British side is trying to do is to vilify Harry and Meghan,” he argued. “The big mistake is that all it does in Britain is remind people of Harry and Meghan.”
Too often, he opined, narratives are shaped by unverified sources. “The thing that bugs me the most is that there’s a lot of chatter about Harry and Meghan, but it’s not necessarily substantiated,” he explained. “What I always say to these authors is, ‘Name your sources.’” Insistence on honesty, he suggests, is exactly what Charles will need if he is serious about repairing his bond with Harry. For the King, the personal and the institutional are now entwined. Turner, putting it in perspective, said, “It’s just logic. Charles, without Harry, is a monarchy with a missing piece. If the institution is to continue, he has to make that relationship work."