Prince Charles 'completely bewildered' by Harry and Meghan's 'painful' jibes at the royal family
LONDON, ENGLAND: Prince Charles is "completely bewildered" by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's "painful' jibes at the royal family as he and the Queen await their arrival in Windsor on Sunday, September 4.
Sources close to the Prince of Wales said he is considerably hurt by his son and daughter-in-law's words and actions, referring to their relentless attacks against The Firm. The 73-year-old royal apparently "loves and misses" Harry, Meghan, and his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, and is feeling down after having spent time with them during the Platinum Jubilee in June. Royal insiders said Charles saw their time together as a "minor act of reparation" after the Sussexes' bombshell 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey in which Harry said he felt "really let down" by his father.
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Last week, Meghan raised tensions after suggesting in an interview with The Cut that they had been forced to move to the US because "just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy." The Duchess of Sussex also claimed that her husband had "lost" his father after they left the country, but sources close to the couple said that wasn't a reference to Charles but her troubled relationship with her own father.
The interview, in which Meghan also compared herself to Nelson Mandela, was branded by royal insiders as "delusional" as they expressed concerns about the impact of their words on the Queen. The 96-year-old monarch has reportedly pulled out of a string of public engagements in recent months over health concerns. One source said she doesn't "want to be on tenterhooks" while anxiously awaiting the "next nuclear bomb."
According to the Daily Mail, the Sussexes' are scheduled to arrive in Windsor on Sunday after landing in the UK the previous day, but a reunion with the Cambridges is unlikely despite the fact that they will be staying in close proximity to each other. That said, a friend of Charles told The Sunday Times that the Prince of Wales is constantly hurt by the Sussexes' public proclamation about the royal family, and especially about himself personally. "For two years, there has been a steady stream of really challenging things said about a man who cannot [publicly] defend himself by a couple he obviously loves and misses," the source said. "That is incredibly difficult on a personal level. He is completely bewildered by why his son, whom he loves deeply, feels this is the way to go about managing family relationships."
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Meanwhile, Prince William is less concerned by the jibes than his father, with one source noting he's "not really spending much time thinking about it." Furthermore, despite the barrage of attacks, the Queen has repeatedly stated the Sussexes remain "much loved" by the family. However, one insider told the Sunday Times, "It is hard to see how what they’re doing would equate to the values of the Queen, who has never encouraged people to discuss deeply personal family relationships in public."