Prince Harry Decides to Skip Prince Philip's Memorial, Queen 'Unlikely' to Meet His Daughter, Lilibet
The relationship between Prince Harry and the rest of his family has been quite rocky since his split with the royal role in 2020.
Since then, he and Meghan have made a life for themselves outside the comforts of his home across the pond. Through a series of life decisions and interviews, it has become pretty clear that they wished to distance themselves from the rest of the British royals.
In more recent times, it appeared that perhaps Harry was trying to patch things up with Queen Elizabeth II, royal biographer and expert Katie Nicholls said earlier this year.
“Whether Harry has regrets or not, I don’t know, but what I do know is that he has a history of lashing out at the establishment before,” Nicholl told Closer. “He’s talked about his ‘accident of birth’ and the ‘burden of the crown.’
“He’s been critical in the past, but then goes quiet. I think since last year he’s paused and reflected.
“And he’s realised how much last year took a toll on his grandmother, and doesn’t want to cause any more upset, so is laying low for now.”
But the U.K.’s Sun reported that Harry and his family will not be traveling to England for the memorial service being held this month for Prince Philip, who died in April last year.
Experts are saying this will likely only deepen the already-present rift between the families and seems to be a result of Harry not being granted personal protection officers for his stay in the United Kingdom.
Not only will their absence be felt deeply by the rest of the family gathering to remember Philip on March 29, but it also means the queen might not get to meet their newest addition, Harry’s daughter, Lilibet.
While Harry said he does want to bring his children across the pond and that he hopes to see the queen soon, he also said he “does not feel safe” with the current level of security, according to the Sun.
Taxpayer-funded security was removed after he and Meghan cut ties with the United Kingdom, but his lawyers are calling that removal “unlawful” and Harry is in the process of suing the government for not granting him the 24-hour armed guards he requested, even if he offered to pay for them, the report said.
He was told in no uncertain terms that the British police aren’t “guns for hire” and that he lacked respect, the Sun reported.
Richard Fitzwilliams, another royal expert, said Harry’s decision to stay in the United States with his family means that the 95-year-old queen might miss her opportunity to meet her 9-month-old great-granddaughter, as seeing Lilibet is becoming “increasingly unlikely.”
“I think this was expected because of the issue with security, obviously, he would have wanted to come if he could,” Fitzwilliams told the Sun.
“I think it’s a great pity, what this means is it regrettable the rift will remain unhealed.”
“If they don’t bring Lili over, then obviously that won’t happen,” he said. “It’s all something that’s clearly not going to be resolved in the foreseeable future. And it doesn’t seem like they’re going to come over.”
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