King Charles was reportedly left "disappointed" after the short notice he was given when his son Prince Harry and his now wife Meghan announced their relationship. The King was supposedly only told 20 minutes before the public announcement, which came as the monarch was preparing to tour the Persian Gulf sovereign state in November 2016.
The then Prince of Wales was preparing to meet the King of Bahrain. According to royal authors, according to royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, who are thought to be close with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Charles' team had spent months organising the tour, hoping it would be "covered significantly" by the media, reports the Mirror.
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But Charles was reportedly "disappointed" and "crushed" when Harry and Meghan confirmed their relationship publicly while also launching an attack on the media, as he thought the announcement would dominate the news cycle, overshadowing his tour. The authors claimed Harry gave his dad just 20 minutes' notice before releasing a statement that confirmed his relationship with Meghan.
Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family: "It was a critical moment that had been in the works for months. A statement from Kensington Palace condemning the Press and, in the same breath, confirming Harry’s new girlfriend would all but eliminate coverage of Prince Charles's tour of the Gulf."
Royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim: "The team at Clarence House, which had spent months putting together Prince Charles' tour in the hopes that it would be covered significantly, was crushed." The book also said Harry was lashing out at anyone who "questioned his new relationship", with the authors writing that the Duke of Sussex would wonder if people were judging them because of race or snobbery.
Harry had allegedly cut ties with a friend for "gossiping about Meghan" and was "poised for an outright war" with the media. However, the book insisted Charles "understood that the situation with Meghan had reached a tipping point" despite being "disappointed" by the timing of his son's statement.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their engagement in November 2017 and got married on May 19, 2018. They eventually stepped down as senior royals in January 2020 and moved to the US where they now live with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
On Saturday, Harry is travelling to the UK for his father's Coronation while Meghan stays at home with the kids to celebrate Archie's fourth birthday. The King's younger son is expected to leave shortly after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey so that he can return home in time to join celebrations for Archie too
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