King Charles III extends olive branch by ‘expressing love for Harry and Meghan’ in first address as monarch
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: The new monarch, King Charles III, showed support to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, during his first public address to the UK and Commonwealth following years of rift between the couple and the Crown. “I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas,” Charles, 73, said of his younger son, 37, and daughter-in-law, 40, in a pre-recorded video message that aired on TV on Friday, September 9.
The olive branch comes one day after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which brought together key members of the royal family, including Charles, Harry, Prince William and new Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plunged the monarchy into crisis during the final years of the Queen's reign after sensationally quitting frontline royal duties and moving to California two years ago.
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In an August interview with New York magazine’s The Cut, Markle suggested that Harry and his father are close to estranged. “Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process,'” the Duchess of Sussex said, referring to Megxit, the couple’s decision to move to the US and give up their royal titles and duties. During the couple’s bombshell March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry said Charles had “stopped taking my calls” regarding conversations about leaving his role as a working member of the royal family. Harry also appeared to suggest, in a mental health podcast, that his father and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had all failed as parents, while the family was still mourning Prince Philip's death last year.
The Duke of Sussex had grief etched on his face as he was swept into the grounds of Windsor Castle this afternoon after losing a race against time to get to his grandmother's bedside before she died yesterday. King Charles III went to Buckingham Palace to meet fellow mourners this afternoon where he shook hands and accepted their condolences to cries of 'God save the King' and impromptu renditions of the national anthem. One woman kissed him on the cheek. He also inspected flowers and tributes left for his late mother at the gates before entering the palace.
The new king seems to have had a change of heart following the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. “We owe her the most heartfelt debt any family could owe to their mother for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example,” Charles said of his late mother on Friday. “Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well-lived, a promise that destiny kept, and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to all today.” He added, “Her dedication and devotion never wavered through times of change, through progress, through times of joy and celebration and through times of sadness and loss.”