Prince Harry has been slammed for wallowing in his "sadness" at becoming estranged from the Royal Family as if he didn't "completely cause it" himself. The Duke of Sussex will return to the UK next month for the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games, with reports suggesting Meghan Markle and their two children will accompany him across the pond.
Journalist Bronte Coy, host of The Sun's Royal Exclusive podcast, said a source told her it had been "a real point of great sadness for Harry" that his children haven't been able to connect with their Britain-based cousins or see where he grew up. But royal author Tom Sykes hit back at the comments, suggesting they were evidence of an "unbelievably self-serving" view of the rift between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace.
"[It implies] that this tremendous sadness has just been visited on them, as if they didn't completely cause it themselves by giving interviews to Oprah Winfrey saying that the family was racist, that they were cold and heartless," he said.
"In his book, [he said] they wouldn't even lend [Meghan] a dab of lipgloss. That they made you cry, they lied about it, they sold you out to the newspapers. That your father was a pathetic, weak figure that walked around dragging his teddy bear with him."
"The idea that this is some random cause of sadness to them is such a manipulation of the sequence of what actually happened," Mr Sykes added.
Harry has levelled a number of accusations at the royals since moving to the US in 2020 in his Oprah interviews, Netflix documentary, interviews and his autobiography Spare. He claimed Charles was jealous of Meghan and Kate, did not hug him when he told him Princess Diana had died and said he believed the King was "never made" for single parenthood, but "to be fair, he tried".
The King's youngest son also said William physically attacked him and pushed him into a dog bowl in his memoir, with the brothers reportedly no longer on speaking terms. Charles, according to Harry's book, pleaded with his sons during a tense meeting after Prince Philip's funeral: "Please, boys. Don't make my final years a misery."
The duke previously insisted it was too dangerous to bring his children to the UK amid his legal fight over security, which he said was the reason his father "wasn't speaking to him". Harry has reportedly been assured that adequate security provision will be in place for his UK trip in July, although it remains to be seen whether he will meet Charles during his stay.
