"I would love reconciliation with my family." It's a poignant statement from anyone dealing with family estrangement, but one that carries particular candor when it's coming from a prince. In a recent interview with the BBC, Prince Harry acknowledged that his father, the king, "won't speak to me," and expressed the belief that "there's no point continuing to fight any more." It was a vulnerable confession from the most rogue royal, whose wife, Meghan, has a similarly volatile relationship with her own father. But while family fractures like Harry's can undoubtedly be a source of deep pain, plenty of us also know that sometimes, having a continent between your relatives and you is just fine.
The maxim that blood is thicker than water may hold true in a laboratory viscosity test, but human relationships are far more complicated, and estrangement is commonplace. A 2020 study by Cornell professor Karl Pillemer found that over one-quarter of Americans say they have cut ties with a family member like a parent or sibling. Most of Pillemer's respondents reported feeling "upset" over that state of affairs, and honorary American Harry, who's also on the outs with his brother William, seems to be among them. In his 2023 memoir "Spare," he said that the "door is always open" but that the "ball is in their court." The stakes to Harry now undoubtedly feel higher, with his father's cancer diagnosis and ascension to the throne. "I don't know how much longer my father has," Harry told the BBC of the 76-year-old monarch.
