Prince Harry was in the U.K. this week as part of a hearing in his joint court case against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail. He and a group of other public figures have brought this case against the publisher for allegedly violating their privacy, including the accusation of phone hacking.
In his witness statement and in a court document written by a lawyer on his behalf, the Duke of Sussex made new comments that the Royal Family will likely not love, like the claim that they "withheld information" from him.
He said, "The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN's phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation. It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom" (via Harper's Bazaar).
For certain sources, Harry's comments have driven a further wedge in his relationship with the Royal Family.
"Harry has torpedoed any remaining bridges with this statement," a friend of the King told The Daily Beast. "It is just six weeks until the coronation and the last thing Charles needs."
They added, "The trust is gone and I think that’s been made quite clear by the King refusing to meet him." The Daily Beast reports that Charles' office said he was "too busy" to meet his son—which is not great, but is true regardless: He was meant to visit France (though this was postponed due to social action), and headed to Germany this week.
As for Prince William's feelings on the whole situation, the source told the publication, "William is over it at this stage. If this was about his vendetta with the Mail that would be one thing. But Harry keeps doing everything in his power to try and embarrass the family. How can you have a relationship with someone who is doing that?"
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams feels similarly about the possibility of a reconciliation. "Any relations with Harry are likely to be almost impossible after the wave of interviews following Spare and the docuseries [Harry & Meghan on Netflix]," he said previously. "You simply couldn’t say anything to him without the fear of it repeating somewhere."
I don't know, call me naive, but I'm still holding out hope.
