Are Prince Charles and Prince Harry close, or have they been distant? Here's what the
bond between Prince Charles and Prince Harry is really like.
After Prince Harry was born, Prince Charles was reportedly upset by the sex of his second
child. In Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story, Princess Diana is quoted as saying,
"Charles always wanted a girl. Harry was a boy. His first comment was, 'Oh God, it's
a boy.'"
But Charles seemed to take issue with more than just Harry's sex. Morton wrote that Diana
was upset by her husband's reaction to Harry's appearance, saying,
"And he's even got red hair."
The joke apparently didn't sit well with Diana who, according to Morton, "was extremely hurt
and offended," as her siblings also had red hair. While the comment about Harry's hair
color may have been tongue-in-cheek, Prince Charles wasn't joking around about wanting
a daughter. Morton wrote,
"What's worse, at Harry's christening in December, Charles reportedly told Diana's mother, 'We
were so disappointed — we thought it would be a girl.'"
Decades later, Charles made it clear he still wanted more girls in the family. According
to People magazine, when Prince William's wife Kate Middleton was expecting her second
child, Charles said,
"We're hoping for a granddaughter!"
Prince Charles and Princess Diana's rocky marriage made headlines in the early '90s,
and the couple finally announced that they were separating in 1992.
The separation meant that Prince Harry was shuffled around a lot between two households,
leaving him feeling like he and Prince William, quote, "never saw [their] mother enough or
[they] never saw [their] father enough," as he said in the 2017 documentary Diana, Our
Mother: Her Life and Legacy.
According to royal biographer Robert Lacey, author of Battle of Brothers: William and
Harry, the dissolution of his parents' marriage, whose divorce was finalized in 1996, had a
lasting impact on Harry. Lacey told Page Six,
"His attitude was: 'Well, I'm not going to make the same mistake as my parents. I'm marrying
for love.'"
According to Lacey, it has been this "impulse" that "has guided him" in his love life, notably
in his whirlwind courtship and marriage to Meghan Markle.
While Prince Harry hasn't publicly criticized his upbringing by Prince Charles, biographer
Penny Junor told the Daily Beast that the father and son have a, quote, "slightly tricky
relationship," explaining that "Charles has always been quite a remote figure." Junor
described the elder royal as "consumed by work," leading to a bit of distance from his
children.
Junor said that Charles was never a neglectful father and always saw to his children's physical
needs, but hinted that some of their emotional needs may have been unmet. She added,
"[Prince Charles] has sometimes overlooked friends and loved ones beside him."
Prince Charles' parenting style was a stark contrast from Princess Diana's. While Charles
prioritized his duty to the monarchy, Prince Harry told Newsweek,
"My mother took a huge part in showing me an ordinary life."
In a speech on the anniversary of Diana's passing in 2007, Harry called his mother his
"guardian, friend, and protector," describing her as:
"[Someone who] never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or undemonstrated."
Princess Diana's passing in 1997 crushed Prince Harry. He and his brother were spending their
summer break with Prince Charles when the news broke that Diana had been in a fatal
car accident, and it fell to Charles to convey the devastating news to his sons. Harry opened
up about the traumatic event in the 2017 documentary Diana, 7 Days.
Prince Harry, who was just 12 at the time, recounted feeling a sense of "disbelief" in
the aftermath of his mother's death, and he credited his father with making sure his sons
"were protected and looked after" in spite of the fact that Charles was also going through
the grieving process.
Somewhat controversially in the eyes of the public, the boys were kept secluded in the
countryside in the days leading to Princess Diana's funeral, where they were shielded
from the press. According to Prince William, this was a decision made by Queen Elizabeth
and Prince Charles, who wanted the boys to:
"Have space and the peace to be with the family and not be immersed or having to deal with
serious decisions or worries straightaway."
Following his mother's passing, Prince Harry did his best to ignore his emotions — he
told The Telegraph in 2017 that he didn't seek help in processing his grief until his
late 20s. While Harry appeared stoic, there were signs that he was hurting, and the royal
developed quite the wild reputation.
His bad behavior resulted in Prince Charles sending him to rehab when he was 17, according
to The Irish Times, although he was only there for a day and wasn't actually admitted to
a treatment program. Instead, the stint seems to have been more to scare Prince Harry into
straightening out his act following news reports that he had been drinking underage and smoking
marijuana.
Royal biographer Penny Junor wrote in The Duchess, however, that Charles' decision to
have his son visit a rehab facility may have been a calculated PR move. She wrote,
"Harry had in fact once visited a rehab centre, but [...] not because his father was worried
about him. [...] Harry bitterly resented being made to look bad so his father could look
good."
While Prince Harry's charity work and his desire to live out of the spotlight have often
drawn comparisons to his mother, there's at least one major way in which he takes after
his dad. Prince Charles is so committed to sustainability that he will have his clothes
repaired or patched rather than buy something new if he can help it. He told British Vogue,
"I can't bear any waste, including food waste; I'd much rather find another use."
Just like Charles, Prince Harry is eco-conscious.
"No one can deny science. Otherwise we live in a very very troubling world."
In the documentary Prince, Son And Heir: Charles At 70, Prince William revealed that Charles
would take his sons "out litter picking" when they were boys. This spurred Harry to do the
same at school where, as he said in the documentary, he was teased for picking up trash. Prince
Harry called his dad "a stickler for turning lights off" before admitting that he now has
the same obsession.
Prince Harry has quite a fortune, estimated to be in the ballpark of $50 million. A large
part of that came from his inheritance from his mother, but his fortune was able to grow
even larger as his father bankrolled him for years.
While Harry received 5 percent of his income as a working royal from the Sovereign Grant
— which, according to the BBC, is funded by taxpayers — the rest was from his dad.
After Prince Harry and his wife made the decision to step down as senior royals, the couple
stopped drawing money from the Sovereign Grant. Harry also revealed in his interview with
Oprah Winfrey that the royals had cut him off financially shortly afterwards, leaving
him to rely on his inheritance to set up his new life in California.
Prince Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle moved at warp speed, which reportedly had
some royals uneasy. Sources told People magazine that Prince William in particular was concerned
when Harry said he was ready to get married after just a few months of dating.
Still, it seems Prince Charles approved of the match, and he even gave Meghan away at
the wedding, since her own father did not attend the ceremony. In the documentary Prince,
Son, and Heir: Charles at 70, Prince Harry revealed,
"I asked him to [...] and he immediately said, 'Yes, of course, I'll do whatever Meghan needs,
and I'm here to support you.'"
In 2020, the Mirror noted that royal watchers had noticed that Charles keeps a family photo
from the royal wedding by the fireplace at Clarence House. According to Finding Freedom,
the heir to the throne also keeps a "framed black-and-white photo of himself escorting
his daughter-in-law at his Clarence House residence."
After Prince Harry and Markle announced they were going to step away from the royal family
and would start a new life in the U.S. in 2020, Prince Charles and Harry's relationship
reportedly grew rocky. While there were plenty of rumors about the alleged tension between
them, nothing was confirmed for a year until Harry revealed that things were, indeed, rough
between father and son for a while.
In his interview with Oprah, Prince Harry admitted that his father was upset by his
decision to step down and that he stopped taking his calls. According to Harry, Charles
didn't like that his son, quote, "took matters into [his] own hands."
"I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mum."
While Prince Harry and Prince Charles are now on speaking terms again, Harry said their
relationship isn't quite the same. He added,
"There's a lot to work through there, you know?"
Prince Harry also admitted in the interview with Oprah that he was disappointed by his
father's reaction to his decision to distance himself from the royal family. He even said
he feels, quote, "really let down." It wasn't just the lack of support that had him feeling
that way, though, but also the fact that his father had been through something similar.
Harry was referring to what had happened to Princess Diana decades earlier. One of the
biggest reasons Harry decided to break away from being a senior royal was because he remembered
the toll royal life and negative press took on his mother. He admitted,
"My biggest concern was history repeating itself."
Prince Harry confessed that he has conflicting emotions, though. While he wishes he'd had
more support, he also acknowledged that leaving the royal family isn't easy — especially
when you're the heir to the throne. He went on to say,
"My father and my brother, they are all trapped. They don't get to leave. And I have huge compassion
for that."
"I also am acutely aware of where my family stands and how scared they are."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about your favorite
stuff are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.