King Charles III's decision not to meet Prince Harry during his visit to Britain for an Invictus Games event this week is "very disappointing," and the monarch runs the risk of appearing "petty" by instead announcing an appearance with Prince William, a British news show has heard.
Harry is visiting Britain to attend events connected with his veterans' sporting event, the Invictus Games, the centerpiece of which is a 10th-anniversary service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral on May 8.
After speculation that the prince and his father would meet after Charles was recently cleared to return to public duties while receiving treatment for cancer, Harry's spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that this would not be the case. The reason given was "due to his majesty's full program."
Hours after this was reported, Buckingham Palace announced that on May 13, Charles will attend a joint engagement with William to officially hand over to him the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, Harry's old army regiment.
These developments, Newsweek's chief royal correspondent Jack Royston told Sky News anchor Wilfred Frost on Wednesday, could prove detrimental to the monarchy as Harry's veteran status is still hugely respected in Britain.
"I think it's very disappointing," he said of the news Charles and his younger son won't meet during this visit.
"I also think the monarchy is at risk here of looking a little bit petty. Part of the reason for that is that on the very day that we discovered that Harry and Charles weren't going to meet, they also put out a news release advertising an event next week in which Charles is going to give William an accolade that 100% would have gone to Harry if Harry was still a working member of the royal family."
"Harry served in the Army Air Corps in Afghanistan," Royston continued. "He was co-pilot gunner of an Apache helicopter. And he fought the Taliban on the front line, putting his life at risk. Now, Charles for decades has been our honorary Colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps, he's now going to give that to Prince William.
"They announced the actual ceremony is going to be in front of an Apache—the very type of helicopter that Harry flew—William's going to be learning about the functioning of this helicopter that Harry knows how to fly. It's terrible framing, I think, and it looks very petty."
William is a qualified helicopter pilot. He served as a search-and-rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force for three years and in 2015 became an air ambulance helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA).
The prince left the EAAA in 2017 to take on full-time royal duties. In August 2023, it was announced that as part of his accession reorganization of patronages, Charles had appointed William as the new Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps.
The palace's move regarding Harry comes as recent polling showed that Charles, Harry and William's popularity in Britain has received a boost since May 2023, a position that the monarchy no doubt would benefit from prolonging.
"It's about how the public read the myth of the motivation behind [Charles] not seeing Harry," Royston said of how this move will play with the public.
"When it was simply the case that Charles wasn't going to see him, that was hugely disappointing. The risk is that they look like it's deliberate and that it's petty, so they need to realize that if the public perceive this as a petty swipe at Harry, then that could actually wind up playing very badly for the monarchy, because this is a subject on which Harry still commands huge respect as a veteran of Afghanistan."
"It's hugely disappointing that Charles isn't going to see Harry," he said. "I get asked so often, 'Will they ever simply repair the relationship?' And I think that's what most members of the public actually want more than anything else. They want royal relations to be warm again."
Newsweek has approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
