King Charles III was reportedly furious at his son Prince Harry last year when the Netflix original series Harry & Meghan debuted. Coverage of the royal family’s reaction to that show has mostly focused on Prince William, but a new book by royal reporter Omid Scobie sheds some light on the king’s mindset as well. Charles reportedly referred to Harry as “that fool” in front of people at Buckingham Palace.
Scobie’s new book Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival was released this week, and it featured never-before-seen anecdotes from sources close to the British royal family. One told Scobie that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix series “too the wind out of everyone’s sails.” They said that the king was trying his best to get some positive press coverage for the monarchy after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but felt that his son’s work in the U.S. was derailing his efforts. They said “no one [was] watching” what the king was up to.
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Up until then, the king did not want to discuss Prince Harry’s move to the U.S. with anyone, but the insiders said that after the Netflix show dropped, the king “went from not wanting anyone to talk about his son to openly criticizing ‘that fool.’” They added: “The King was genuinely sad about the entire situation. He was angry but didn’t want people to speak ill of his son in front of him, either. It was a brief moment where he paused and realized how bad things had become.”
Scobie’s book paints a more hostile picture of the king’s relationship with Prince Harry than many other reports over the last year or so. However, it still says that the king and Prince Harry are eager to find ways to reconcile when they can. This is in contrast to Prince William, who reportedly feels it will be much harder to forgive his younger brother.
The king’s reconciliation may be close at hand, as he reportedly spoke to Prince Harry and Markle on the phone earlier this month when they called to wish him a happy birthday. According to The Telegraph they even scheduled another call later on. It’s not clear what they talked about or what kind of progress they may have made, but it seems like the chaos described in Scobie’s book may be nearing its end.
Scobie’s book Endgame is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats, as is Prince Harry’s memoir Spare. Harry & Meghan is streaming now on Netflix.
