King Charles delivers ‘flea in the ear’ to Prince Harry
King Charles III appears to have left Prince Harry heartbroken with his decision to prioritize his scheduled royal duties over meeting his estranged son, who flew to London on Tuesday. The King’s decision has been described as “extraordinary” by royal commentators, as it highlights the strained relationship between the monarch and his youngest son.
Michael Cole, a former royal correspondent, expressed his surprise at the King’s choice during a conversation with GB News. “His son has flown 5,000 miles for the Invictus Games service at St Paul’s Cathedral,” Cole noted. “It’s extraordinary. This is big medicine, for the King to say ‘my diary is too full,’ that is the sort of thing you say to people you hardly know.”
“I would imagine in a normal family, a father and son having not seen each other since February, would normally meet up. We have to accept what has come out of Buckingham Palace, that the King’s diary is full. Harry will have got the message that he has got the brush off,” Cole added.
“A lot of people will say about time and rightly so.” “This is a right royal flea in the ear from the King to his youngest son, fifth in line to the throne, Prince Harry”, he said. “It’s extraordinary, this is big medicine, for the King to say ‘my diary is too full’, that is the sort of thing you say to people you hardly know. “In this world, words have consequences and the things Harry and Meghan have been saying over the years have gone home to not only the King but Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Princess Kate.”
Prince Harry had traveled to London to attend a special service at St. Paul’s Cathedral to mark the opening of the Invictus Games, a multi-sport event for wounded and sick military personnel that he founded. However, King Charles cited his full diary as the reason he could not meet Harry. A spokesperson for Prince Harry acknowledged the King’s busy schedule, stating, “It, unfortunately, will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program. The Duke, of course, is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
The strained relationship between King Charles and Prince Harry has been widely discussed following Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to step back from royal duties and their subsequent move to the United States. The tension was further exacerbated by the couple’s high-profile interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 and the release of Harry’s memoir, Spare, which revealed intimate details about his life within the royal family.