King Charles Won’t Invite Prince Harry Again Until He Passes a 'Trust Test,’ Claims Insider
Prince Harry may have managed a symbolic step forward with his father, but Palace insiders insist that a full return to the royal fold is far from guaranteed. For the Duke of Sussex, reconciliation is not a matter of showing up; it’s reportedly about proving he can be trusted again. A source made it clear that Harry still has ground to cover before his presence becomes welcome among the rest of the family.
After years of fractured relations and public revelations, the monarchy appears to be treating Harry’s reintegration as conditional. The King may be signalling a willingness to forgive, but trust is a currency in short supply within the family, and Harry still has to earn it back. “It’s not the case that Harry is going to be welcomed back with open arms and certainly not in time for Christmas,” the insider told Vanity Fair. They added, “As far as the King is concerned, the door has always been left open for Harry, but [he] has to pass the trust test. If he does, then I think there could well be another meeting in the new year.”
While Charles is all for an olive branch, Prince William is reportedly still firmly against it. According to the same source, the Prince of Wales has ‘no intention’ of reconciling with his brother, at least for now. The feud between the two brothers runs deep, and a holiday reunion looks unlikely. “With things being so dire between William and Harry, I’m not sure Harry would even want to be at Sandringham for Christmas. It would be very awkward. He knows he’d probably get quite a frosty reception from most of the family,” the insider added.
Yet, curiously, not everyone close to Harry believes the situation is beyond repair. One of his long-time confidants, Alex Rayner, who trekked with him to the North Pole in 2012, insists that the ice is bound to crack. “As soon as the opportunity presents itself, we’ll see a wonderful embrace between the two brothers. Absolutely,” Rayner told the Daily Mail. Tempering his certainty with a hint of caution, he added, “I would hope so. Certainly, if not by the end of the year, then certainly by next year. They’ll hug in the not-too-distant future.”
Rayner’s optimism may seem misplaced given the current stalemate, but his words highlight something many close to Harry still hold onto: that family ties, however strained, are not so easily severed. “A rift between father and son is never that big,” Rayner pointed out, stressing that a father’s love has a way of withstanding the storm.
This sentiment seemed to play out during Harry’s most recent trip to the UK, where he and Charles shared an hour-long tea at Clarence House — their first proper sit-down in nearly 19 months. Brief though it was, the meeting signalled that doors once bolted shut are beginning to open, albeit cautiously.