A Full Timeline of King Charles and Prince Harry’s Never-Ending Drama

A Full Timeline of King Charles and Prince Harry’s Never-Ending Drama

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Things between Prince Harry and King Charles are not particularly great at the moment thanks to…you know…the last 4 years of non-stop royal beef. To put it in the words of everyone’s favorite Real Housewives gif, the vibes are essentially this:

But if you want slightly more detail than Dorinda is able to provide, don’t worry: We’ve got you covered with a complete timeline that may or may not cause stress hives. Truly, your family’s most infamous Thanksgiving feud has nothing on these two. On that note, time to dive in 😅

January 2020
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle step away from senior royal duties, sparking huge (HUGE!) amounts of drama within the royal family. To the point where we honestly needed to devote an entirely different timeline to it, so here you go:

March 7, 2021
The Sussexes sit down for their Oprah interview and are brutally honest. Full details here, but when it comes to Charles, Prince Harry reveals:

“When we were in Canada, I had three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father before he stopped taking my calls.”

Yikes!

April 17, 2021

Prince Harry attends his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral.

the funeral of prince philip, duke of edinburgh is held in windsor
Pool – Getty Images
According to Harry’s memoir, Spare, Charles speaks to him and Prince William at the event, saying, “Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.”

April 20, 2021
The Sun reports that Kate Middleton joined Harry, William, and Charles for talks at Frogmore Cottage after Prince Philip’s funeral, and a source says, “Harry obviously felt outnumbered as there are three of them and only one of him so wanted it to be on his home turf.”

May 4, 2021
A source tells The Sun about where things stand with the royals and the Sussexes amid their chat:

“Harry, William, and Charles focused on reaching some form of peace and stability within the family moving forward. The conversations were focused less on what has happened and what was said with Oprah and more on how to move forward as a family. And that is not an easy path, it requires time and understanding.”

The source adds:

“Charles felt aggrieved at how the family’s personal affairs and family dramas were expressed in such an ‘insensitive’ way.”

May 13, 2021
Prince Harry gives an interview to Armchair Expert and accuses his dad of passing on a cycle of pain.

“I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically. It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say, ‘You know what, that happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.’”

June 23, 2021
People reports that Prince Charles is having a hard time dealing with his fallout with Prince Harry, and a friend says he’s “shell-shocked by it all” and “is very hurt and upset.”

January 23, 2022
A source tells The Sun (via The Mirror) that “There has been a definite thaw in relations between Harry and Charles. They are on much better terms and have been having friendly chats and video calls.”

April 22, 2022
Royal sources tell The Mirror that Harry and Charles had a “cordial but slightly awkward” meeting while Harry was briefly in England visiting the Queen, and it lasted for 15 minutes.

The source adds that Prince Charles was “at a loss” over an interview Harry gave to Today about seeing Her Majesty, where he mused “I’m just making sure that she’s, you know, protected and got the right people around her.”

June 5, 2022

Despite recent drama, Harry and Meghan arrive at the Queen’s Jubilee!

queen elizabeth ii platinum jubilee 2022 national service of thanksgiving
Samir Hussein – Getty Images
July 31, 2022
Royal expert Neil Sean tells The Express that Charles has “iced out” Harry for not divulging details about his memoir, saying, “The fact they are remaining so tight-lipped means there have to be some bombshells in the memoir. Charles then iced his younger son with a very short meeting. He wanted to have a mature, adult conversation about what the book will contain, and whether the royals should be concerned about anything.”

September 5, 2022
Sources tell The Mirror that the Sussexes declined an invite from Charles to visit him at Balmoral: “The Prince of Wales reiterated his invitation for Harry and Meghan, and the whole family if they wished, to come and stay with him this summer while he is at his home on the Balmoral estate. He thought it might be a good opportunity for everyone to take stock and relax, but the invitation was declined.”

September 14, 2022

Harry and Meghan take part in a procession ahead of the Queen’s funeral:

the coffin carrying queen elizabeth ii is transferred from buckingham palace to the palace of westminster
WPA Pool – Getty Images

September 19, 2022

Harry walks near his dad during the Queen’s official funeral:

the state funeral of queen elizabeth ii
Bryn Colton – Getty Images
September 25, 2022
According to The Times, Charles “hasn’t decided” whether or not to allow his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet to use their titles, which is “heightening tensions” with the Sussexes, who “fear the King may strip Archie and Lilibet of their titles.”

September 26, 2022
Despite the reporting above, a source tells The Telegraph that Charles saw “tremendous flickers of hope” while spending time with Meghan and Harry when they were in England following the Queen’s death.

“It remains the case that the King loves both of his children,” a source says. “Over the last 16 days or so, there were tremendous flickers of hope. In terms of the future, there is hope of a cause for unity.”

October 15, 2022
Ahead of King Charles’ coronation and the bombshell publication of Spare, a friend of Queen Camilla’s speaks to the Daily Beast and has this to say:

“Almost everything Charles has done over the past 20 years has, in one way or another, been about getting Camilla accepted by the public. He loves her. He is incredibly protective of her and he couldn’t do it without her. Even the Queen finally accepted that. It is one thing for Harry to attack Charles, he can take it on the chin, but if Harry forces him to choose by laying into Camilla in his book, I have no doubt he will choose Camilla.”

The Daily Beast adds that Charles “likely won’t” invite Harry if he writes negatively about Camilla and that there is “tremendous nervousness” in his circle about Spare.

October 12, 2022
Fans spot a photo of the Sussexes in the below video. Which seems like a positive update!

NEW: The King held his first weekly audience with the Prime Minister @trussliz at Buckingham Palace this evening pic.twitter.com/1nmTBAzlLJ

— Lizzie Robinson (@LizzieITV) October 12, 2022

November 4, 2022
Royal expert Tom Bower tells The Sun that “[Charles] has made various threats to Meghan and Harry” and that the couple have “got to consider their own titles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, could be taken away by Charles if they misbehave.”

December 8, 2022
The Sussexes drop their Netflix series and compared to Spare it’s actually pretty chill!

January 10, 2023
Annnnd then Spare comes out, and with it, several shocking revelations. For one, Harry says Charles joked about his paternity:

“Pa liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire. He’d always end with a burst of philosophizing…Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father? He’d laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumor circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt. One cause of this rumor was Major Hewitt’s flaming ginger hair, but another cause was sadism.”

Harry also talks pretty negatively about Queen Camilla:

“She was the villain, she was a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image. The need for her to rehabilitate her image…that made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade information and with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street because of that.”

January 12, 2023
A source tells Us Weekly that “Charles is distraught. He’s angry and outraged that Harry’s aired so many embarrassing and damaging assertions, and it’s put him in a terrible position with [Queen Consort] Camilla of course now that she’s been dragged into the equation. That’s really crossed the line in more ways than one, but there are so many egregious comments and revelations from Harry that his father doesn’t know where to start. He has hope that in time the dust will settle and Harry will soften his heart toward his family, at least he hopes so. But he’s not going to push or apologize.”

January 28, 2023
News breaks that King Charles is “in talks” to issue some a response to Harry’s book. In fact, The Mirror claims that he’s preparing to do a “landmark” BBC interview and that Palace aides are considering having him “give his side of the story.”

February 9, 2023
A fan asks King Charles to “bring back Harry, please” during a trip to the University of East London. In response, His Majesty asks, “Who?” (ERM) and when the person replies “Harry, your son,” he chuckles and moves on. Okay then!

March 1, 2023
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are evicted from Frogmore Cottage by King Charles, and according to The Sun, His Majesty’s decision to oust them is “backed” by Queen Camilla and by Prince William and Kate Middleton. Oh, and speaking of these two:

April 16, 2023
The Telegraph reports that Harry and Charles have been holding “peace talks” ahead of the coronation.

May 5, 2023
Royal reporter Omid Scobie makes an appearance on ITV’s This Morning to discuss the coronation, saying in part, “From what I understand, the Sussexes had to wait for some time to really get that confirmation that they were 100 percent welcome at this event.”

May 6, 2023

Harry shows up at the coronation to support his dad having a fancy crown placed atop his head!

their majesties king charles iii and queen camilla coronation day
WPA Pool – Getty Images
February 5, 2024
Amid Charles’ unexpected cancer news, The Guardian reports that “The Duke of Sussex has spoken with the King about his cancer diagnosis and will travel to the U.K. to see him soon.” A source also adds, “The duke did speak with his father about his diagnosis. He will be traveling to U.K. to see His Majesty in the coming days.”

February 16, 2024
Prince Harry makes an appearance on Good Morning America while in Canada and speaks about his trip to England to see King Charles. When asked “How was that visit for you, emotionally?” Harry responds with, “Look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.”

THIS MORNING: A @GMA Exclusive: The all-new interview with Prince Harry on his life with Meghan, how his father King Charles is doing and his passion supporting wounded warriors. pic.twitter.com/SxDd9VeG6S

— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 16, 2024

March 7, 2024
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward tells People that “Of course [Charles] would like Harry to be the prodigal son and come back and would be much happier if William and Harry were friends again. But he realizes that is just not about to happen.”

March 27, 2024
Royal expert Tom Quinn talks about Prince Harry’s upcoming trip to England in May, and tells The Mirror that “The meeting between Harry and his father King Charles will be short and formal, simply because any difficult conversations could lead to complaints being widely broadcast when Harry gets back to the States. Just as with the relationship with William, Harry’s relationship with his father has been badly damaged by the publication of Spare and Harry and Meghan’s various interviews. Both William and Charles are always going to worry that they can’t say anything privately and off the record to Harry without the real risk that he will go public on anything and everything.”

That brings us up to date, but stay tuned for what happens during that aforementioned meeting….

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Photo credit: Getty Images
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Queen Elizabeth left him truly 🤯 amounts of money.

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