We read all about an explosive row between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, in the pages of Harry’s memoir Spare—a row that turned physical. But a different book—veteran royal correspondent Robert Jobson’s latest, Our King—details a different row, this one between Harry and his father, King Charles, and, while thankfully not another physical fight, this one struck a deep emotional chord.
The Mirror explains that a furious Harry swore at Charles in an argument about money: “Having lost his temper when his repeated demands for funds were not met, it’s claimed foul-mouthed Harry vented his frustrations at his father in a heated telephone conversation,” the outlet reports.
Harry—who, by the way, to our knowledge anyway, still has not RSVPed for the Coronation over a week after the deadline—burned his bridges with his father during this argument, apparently. Harry had been contacting Her late Majesty to discuss finances, but she reportedly grew “weary and tired” of talking about it with her grandson, according to Our King. Jobson writes that Harry regularly called the Queen from his new home base in California, but she felt “troubled” when he asked her to voice his grievances, asking her to act as a bit of a mediator between Harry and his father, if you will.
Her Majesty found Prince Harry’s calls quite difficult and wearisome,” Jobson writes. “She didn’t want to interfere in the father/son relationship and would urge him to speak to his father.”
So that’s exactly what Harry did—he called his father, Charles, and, uh, it didn’t go so well.
The then “Prince Charles simply stopped taking Harry’s calls after his son swore at him and repeatedly asked for funds,” Jobson writes. “When the Queen asked Charles why he hadn’t given in, he told her that he wasn’t a bank.”
Ouch.
And, per Harry’s attendance at arguably the biggest day of his father’s life—his Coronation, coming up incredibly quickly on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London—Harry and wife Meghan Markle are apparently “on the brink” of making a decision, The Mirror reports. But their reported demand of inclusion on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the ceremony isn’t going to happen, a source says, as the balcony appearance will only consist of working members of the royal family.
“The King has been very clear who he wants to represent the monarchy,” the source says. “There is little room for sentiment. This is a State occasion, not a family occasion, and it is right that only the working members of the royal family are there at the big public moment.”
