Prince Harry's 'stitch up' that sparked 'considerable irritation' with Palace

Since stepping away from his royal duties in 2020, Prince Harry has made numerous choices that have caused tensions between him and the Royal Family, with the rift continuing to deepen.

Throughout the past five years, the Duke of Sussex, 40, has openly criticised the monarchy on several occasions, most notably in the 2022 Netflix series Harry and Meghan, and in his explosive 2023 autobiography Spare. Nevertheless, from 2024 onwards, when both King Charles and Kate Middleton received their cancer diagnoses, Harry appeared to have pulled back from his public attacks on the Firm - that was until recently.

Following his unsuccessful court challenge over the reduction of his security arrangements, funded by the UK taxpayer, Harry gave an interview to the BBC in which he levelled fresh accusations against the Firm. Royal commentator Robert Hardman suggests this sparked "considerable irritation" within the Palace, reports the Express.

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The royal expert told the Daily Mail that the Firm only discovered the interview "minutes before broadcast". A Palace insider allegedly told Robert: "As the Duke of Sussex might say, it felt like a bit of a stitch-up."

Robert went on to say: "It was starting to feel a little more than coincidental that when the King was on important business overseas, the Duke of Sussex would suddenly emerge from his hard-won privacy to make a high-profile public appearance."

He noted that in March 2023, when the King went on the first overseas state visit of his reign to Germany, his youngest son had "unexpectedly" and "unnecessarily" returned to London to watch the "preliminaries" of one of his court cases.

Robert also mentioned that Harry did this again during the start of the King's state visit to Italy in 2025. In addition, the duke is said to have made a "surprise appearance" in Shanghai during a conference on sustainable tourism a few weeks later, as his father flew to Canada.

Harry is set to return to the UK to attend the WellChild charity’s 20th annual Awards ceremony at the end of September. As a Patron of the charity, Harry said ahead of the event, "It is a true privilege to honour the bravery and compassion of this incredible community."

Rumours of a possible UK meet-up with Charles, 76, first ramped up after a private meeting between close aides from the two sides earlier this summer. According to former royal editor Duncan Larcombe, a meeting with the King might be the only opportunity Harry has to inch open the door for him and Meghan to be allowed back into the family fold.

"From what I’ve heard, Harry is quite keen to see his father. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen. But him coming over to England is at least a chance for them to meet, and start the process of trying to build bridges," Duncan told the Mirror.

"It would have to be done in absolute private, behind closed doors, because there’s simply been too much played out in public, and that has to end if anything is to be repaired."

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