'Devastated' King Charles 'hopeful' for reconciliation with Prince Harry, says royal expert
15 October 2022, 01:18 | Updated: 4 November 2022, 10:05
King Charles III is ‘hopeful’ that he and Prince Harry will one day reconcile, a royal expert has claimed.
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Katie Nicholl, author of The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, said the monarch has been 'devastated' by 'what has happened' with his youngest son.
"If you think back just a couple of years around the time of [the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s] wedding, the relationship between Harry and his father was, I think, probably better than it ever had been,"she told Fox News.
"Harry and Meghan spent time with Charles and Camilla in Scotland. They went on holiday together. It all looked very rosy and very happy."
Ms Nicholl added: "He is hopeful that there will be a reconciliation."
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"I think we saw that in the very public olive branches that were extended to Harry and Meghan."
Harry and Meghan speak to public outside Windsor Castle
Harry and Meghan stepped back from their official duties in 2020 and planned to split their time between the UK and the States.
The Sussexes have become increasingly isolated within the royal family since their wedding in 2018.
However, Ms Nicholl said there have been positive signs for their relationship since the Queen's death.
"Particularly in that first speech that Charles gave to the nation, he spoke of his love for Harry and Meghan," she said.
"He addressed them on first-name terms. He made the concession to allow Harry to wear his uniform when he was standing vigil by the queen’s coffin."
She added that another ‘olive branch’ could be giving titles to Harry and Meghan’s children Archie, and Lilibet, who are three and one, respectively.
"Will that be… the final olive branch that is offered? I think we’ll hear about that imminently," Ms Nicholl said.
Meghan and Harry join William and Kate on walkabout at Windsor Castle
Harry and Meghan, who live in California, sat down for an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.
In it, Harry claimed that "my family literally cut me off financially. I’ve got what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this".
He said of his father: "Of course, I will always love him but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that."
