THE DUKE of Sussex wrote Prince Charles a “deeply personal note” ahead of his homecoming for Philip’s funeral – but the father and son have not patched up their fractured relationship.
Prince Harry touched base with Charles before he returned to the UK, where he would be reunited with his family for the first time since he left royal life last year.
Their relationship had “hit rock bottom” in the wake of Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey – while his grandfather lay seriously ill in hospital.
Charles is still “very hurt” by the appearance, which rocked the royal family amid allegations of bullying and racism, the Daily Mirror reports.
Harry revealed in the interview that the Prince of Wales had at one point stopped taking his calls – explaining that there was still “a lot to work through” in their relationship.
“I will always love him. But there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship,” he said.
Sources close to the Duke said he has been “forced to write letters” after a “complete communication breakdown” with his father.
The notes are said to have “outlined his reasons for leaving” his position to live in California with mum-to-be Meg and their one-year-old son Archie, while promising to “respect the institution”.
It was a move that sent cracks through their kinship and has left their relationship “extremely frosty”.
“Truth be told, Harry didn’t really know what to expect before he came home, which is why he reached out before seeing everyone,” the royal source revealed.
“He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped.
“There had been a kind of unspoken agreement between everyone to park whatever has been on each person’s mind, and solely concentrate on supporting the Queen ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral.
“The feeling inside the camp was that it wasn’t the time nor the place to go over things, especially at such an emotional time for everybody involved.”
Harry’s suggestion that Charles and his brother Prince William were “trapped” in the institution and “don’t get to leave” like he did, “outraged” them both according to palace insiders.
The highly-anticipated return of Prince Harry to British soil did deliver a hint of hope of a reconciliation, as Charles sent cars away after his father’s funeral to allow his sons the chance to talk.
The brothers were seen sharing a chat as they left the chapel thanks to Charles’ idea to “break the ice” between them.
The Duke was reportedly flying home to be with Meghan, who could not make the trip on doctor’s orders, on Monday – but he could still extend his trip to further fix his familial relationships and for the Queen’s 95th birthday on Wednesday.
The source continued, “Harry didn’t expect everything to be completely back to normal but his feeling after seeing his family was there is a lot of ground to make up.
“Whether that is harder or easier to do on the other side of the world remains to be seen.
“There is a lot of distrust in the camp and everything is still very, very raw.”
Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge will soon have to put their family issues aside to focus on plans of a slimmed-down monarchy.
The future kings will lead a summit to decide the future of the institution following Prince Philip’s death.
Sources say they are “totally aligned” in their vision – but there is “no way back” for Prince Andrew, who remains embroiled in the Jeffery Epstein scandal.
