Why are William and Harry cold with their father?
Rumors about Charles' complicated relationship with his two sons William and Harry were recently revived by an article referring to a "cold war".
In the maelstrom of publications devoted to members of the royal family, few are the subject of a palace reaction. First, because the vast majority of them are pure fantasies, and don't deserve to spend a second. Secondly, because the Crown's communication takes place in a strict separation between the public activities of family members and their private life. Finally, there is the culture of silence specific to large institutions.
To respond is to give vent to the rumor. “Never complain, never explain”, advised the Prime Minister of Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli. That the palace speaks is therefore information in itself. Even if it means causing the opposite effect of that sought ... Thus, Clarence House, the official residence of the Prince of Wales, surprised royal commentators recently by qualifying as “complete fiction” the rumors about the complicated relationship between Charles and his two. sons William and Harry.
These rumors are not new, but were rekindled at the beginning of September by a long article published by the news site “The Daily Beast”, entitled “At the heart of the cold war between Prince Charles and William and Harry ”. “Everyone knows, in the highest spheres of the monarchy that the relationship between the two boys and their father is 'strained'”, writes the American site, which says to rely on “a source”, without other precision than its requirement of anonymity. “They are very different people and they don't get along. It's that simple, the source continues. They rarely see each other outside of official business ”. These, moreover, are mainly the big family gatherings, like the Trooping the Color, the Christmas of the queen in Sandringham. We have to go back to February 2014 to find a public appearance at three, between father and son; in this case, a conference for the protection of wildlife, their only common cause.
Their relationship has always been fluctuating
“Their relationship has always been fluctuating,” wrote the famous “royal watcher” Richard Kay in the “Daily Mail” in December 2017, “but it has significantly refreshed since William and Harry became guardians of Diana's memory” these years, and more openly this summer. The commemorations around the 20th anniversary of Diana's death are indeed a breaking point, according to the source of the “Daily Beast”. According to this, Charles “hates” the public debauchery of feelings of his two sons, who had then confided in several interviews their grief and their confusion after the disappearance of their mother. The prince was all the more irritated and surely saddened that his two boys, whom he had to surround himself with his love after the death of his ex-wife, totally swept him away from their story.
And then there's Camilla. The two boys are not close to her, to say the least. They don't even have sympathy for their father's second wife, according to Richard Kay - Diana's great friend, it must be emphasized. In his biography of the Prince of Wales published last March, renowned writer Tom Bower noted that Camilla's presence was for William and Harry "a constant reminder of their mother's torments." So much so, explains the author, that the two teenagers found their rooms at Clarence House through the servants' quarters, to avoid crossing paths with Charles and Camilla. The two brothers made the effort 13 years ago to support their father for his marriage, but not much more. The Duchess of Cornwall celebrated her 70th birthday in July 2017. At Clarence House, we hoped for a kind and public word from her two step-sons. A month before the anniversary of Diana's death, there was none.
When Charles's people snubbed Carole Middleton
William rarely visits Highgrove, the country house of Charles and now Camilla; the one where the adulterous couple met in secret, when each was married. The Duke of Cambridge, on the other hand, has spent a lot of time in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where his wife's family live. He also spent the holiday season with the Middletons, or summer vacation. This connection is not to Charles's liking. In his book, Tom Bower confirmed the annoyance, already mentioned by the English press, of the prince at the place taken by Kate's parents in the media, but also in the lives of her grandchildren. The Middleton grandparents see George, Charlotte and Louis much more often than he does. Carole Middleton, who regularly helps his daughter with the care of children, has, he believes, more influence than he, the crown prince of the kingdom, in the education of the future King George.
If it is really necessary to speak of “cold war”, Tom Bower reports in his book particularly edifying the story of a battle which occurred in 2016: “Charles feared to be usurped by the Middletons, and several members of the court l 'have noticed. As a result, they decided to snub Carole Middleton on various occasions. This infuriated William, who went to consult his grandmother. To counterbalance the painful vexations suffered by Carole Middleton, the Queen insisted on leading Kate's mother through the Balmoral estate, in front of the lenses of photographers dispatched for the occasion ... "
“People do not really realize how much Charles is jealous of anyone who receives more attention than him”, explains Christopher Andersen, author of “Game of Crowns: Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate, and the Throne”, interviewed by the “Daily Beast”. “Charles was incredibly jealous of Diana who literally craved all the attention, and the fact that polls routinely show that two-thirds of Britons would prefer William and Kate as their next royal couple - rather than Charles and Camilla - has always been a source of concern. tension between the two camps ”...
