Prince Harry seeks ‘reconciliation with family’, says ‘King won’t speak to me…’ in bombshell interview; Palace responds
Prince Harry on Friday told the BBC he “would love a reconciliation” with the Royal Family, in an emotional interview after losing a legal battle regarding his security arrangements in the UK.
He tol BBC News in California, the King “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff”, but that he did not want to fight anymore and did “not know how much longer my father has”.
“I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
“There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” he added, but had now “forgiven” them.
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious,” said Prince Harry, who said the dispute over his security had “always been the sticking point”.
Expressing that he felt “let down,” the Duke described his court loss as a “classic establishment stitch-up” and accused the Royal Household of playing a role in the decision to scale back his security.
On whether he asked the King to intervene, Prince Harry said: “I never asked him to intervene – I asked him to step out of the way and let the experts do their jobs.”
Read | ‘My worst fears have been confirmed…’: Prince Harry faces emotional toll. Here’s why
What the Palace said in response?
Following the interview, the Buckingham Palace has issued a rare statement.
“All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion,” a Palace spokesperson said of the decision to strip Harry of his security detail.
The legal team behind the decision argued that providing publicly funded security for Harry was inappropriate, given that he had stepped back from his royal responsibilities.
In 2020, Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, stepped back from their royal duties.
Earlier today, the Court of Appeal in London rejected Prince Harry’s legal challenge against the British government’s decision to alter his security arrangements following his departure from royal duties.
According to Reuters, the High Court in London ruled last year that the decision was lawful, a judgment that was later upheld by three senior judges in the Court of Appeal. While they acknowledged that Prince Harry’s sense of grievance was understandable, they concluded it did not constitute a legal error.
Harry, 40, resides in California with Meghan and their two children. He was present in person for two days of court hearings held in April.
