Snubs, slights, and straight-up slaps in the face: Nobody does family feuding quite
like the royals — and the last few months have given us some of their finest moments.
In his first Christmas speech as monarch, King Charles honored his late mother,
Queen Elizabeth II, addressed Britain's cost-of-living crisis, and celebrated the work
of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The king even highlighted the importance of community spirit.
"We see it in our health and social care professionals,
our teachers and indeed all those working in public service."
However, what the king didn't do was mention Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, or their two
children, which led royal fans to wonder if Charles was sending a not-so-subtle message.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's absence from the king's Christmas address seemed doubly suspicious
considering its close timing to the release date of Prince Harry's memoir. Multiple reports had
already suggested that Charles was angered by revelations made in Harry's book. So it's not a
stretch to wonder if the king decided to eliminate the Sussexes from his Christmas wishes. Whether he
meant to or not, Charles' words caused a bit of a furor and only furthered rumors of a royal feud.
The royal family traditionally celebrates Christmas at Sandringham, their country
estate in Norfolk, England. However, following Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022, many wondered
if the royals would carry on the tradition. In December of that year, it was revealed that,
sure enough, King Charles planned to spend the holiday season at the estate with the
rest of the family. However, it also seemed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be missing
from the festivities. While the new monarch had decided to continue his late mother's tradition,
Meghan and Harry reportedly spent the holiday at home in California.
Having moved to the United States, it's perhaps understandable that the
Duke and Duchess wouldn't be in attendance at Sandringham for Christmas every year. After all,
a transatlantic flight with two young children in tow is likely exhausting. Still, many royal
fans appeared to see the couple's absence as a snub, with some wondering if Harry and Meghan
had willingly turned down an invitation from the king to reunite with the rest of the clan.
Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, contains an array of shocking stories about members of the royal
family, revealing everything from alleged personal conversations with Prince William
to supposed text messages sent by Kate Middleton. But one thing the prince seemingly didn't do in
the book was thank several of his closest family members in the acknowledgements section, leading
the general public to wonder if this might be an intentional snub. In Spare, Prince Harry writes:
"Above all my deepest and adoringest thanks to Archie and Lili, for letting Papa go
off to read and think and reflect, and to my mother-in-law [...] and to my incredible wife,
for too many millions of gifts and sacrifices, great and small, to ever enumerate."
He also found time to thank the likes of Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Chris Martin,
as well as Princess Diana's siblings, while failing to even mention his late grandmother,
Queen Elizabeth, his father, King Charles, or his brother, Prince William.
"Boom."
While these admissions may seem strange, they perhaps highlight
Harry's reportedly strenuous relationship with the rest of his family. It probably
didn't help that many of them don't come off too well in the book itself, either.
The late queen's husband, Prince Philip, passed away on April 9th, 2021. His funeral took place
at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 17th. The royal family gathered for the
somber occasion, with Prince Harry flying back from California to pay tribute to his
grandfather. However, according to The Daily Mail, Harry wasn't exactly welcomed back into
the fold during the service. The tabloid noted that Harry was seen speaking with his brother,
Prince William, and Kate Middleton, but Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Sophie,
the then Countess of Wessex, apparently stayed away from Harry altogether.
Prince Harry himself has since opened up about Philip's funeral,
and it certainly doesn't sound as if it was easy for the Duke of Sussex
to reunite with members of his family. In May 2021, Harry told the Associated Press:
"I was worried about it, I was afraid."
Harry even turned to lessons he'd learned during
therapy to deal with the anxiety he felt about the situation, saying:
"It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds."
After a pretty public snub at Philip's funeral, it's perhaps unsurprising that Prince Harry didn't
return for a memorial service honoring his late grandfather, which took place in March 2022.
King Charles likely thought that his coronation weekend would be a joyous affair. However,
Charles faced multiple knock backs during the planning stages of the event, with many big stars
allegedly refusing to perform at the coronation concert. Huge British stars like Elton John,
Adele, Harry Styles, and Robbie Williams all reportedly turned down the chance to
take part in the event. In an interview with Rolling Stone, music publicist Simon
Jones theorized why so many celebs might have refused to appear in front of the king. He said:
"The royal family has faced a number of PR disasters in recent times,
and anyone performing at the show would have to consider whether
there would be a backlash from appearing amongst their fans."
After being reportedly snubbed by a number of artists, the coronation planners managed
to land boyband Take That, singer Lionel Richie, and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for the event.
Following the release of Prince Harry's memoir,
royal family relations seemed to be worse than ever.
"I don't think that we can ever have peace with my family unless the truth is out there."
Case in point: King Charles allegedly deciding to avoid Prince Harry, even when they were both in
the same country. The Duke of Sussex flew over to England in March 2023 to attend a High Court case
against Associate Newspapers, the company that owns The Daily Mail, amongst other publications.
According to sources cited by The Telegraph, King Charles' packed schedule meant that he was simply
"too busy" to see his youngest son during the brief visit. Despite the fact that they were
both in England, Charles apparently couldn't find a 10-minute slot for his younger son.
The Telegraph also reported that Harry wouldn't be seeing his brother during the trip either,
as he was away on vacation with his wife and three children. Meanwhile,
King Charles was apparently staying at his Highgrove residence during Harry's visit
and was preparing to leave the country for an official royal visit to Germany. Still,
it's hard not to see Charles' apparent decision as something of a snub.