Prince Harry could get an ‘olive-branch’ text or email from King Charles or Prince William on his birthday this month, a former Royal butler said.
The Duke of Sussex will turn 39 on 15 September and the King’s ex aide Grant Harrold said it would be the ‘perfect time’ for Charles and William to ‘reach out’ and ‘check in’. Grant added that Harry would be ‘feeling sad’ around his birthday – especially as it comes just a week after the first anniversary of the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Relations between Harry and the Royal Family continue to be strained after he and wife Meghan Markle stepped back from senior royal duties in 2020. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex went on to criticise the UK monarchy in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, in their controversial Netflix documentary and in Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare.
Grant, who worked for King Charles for seven years, said he hoped Charles and William reach out to Harry on his birthday. Speaking on behalf of Slingo, he said: “If they chat on WhatsApp, he might get a text, or he might get an email. I hope they do reach out.
“I’d like to think William would pick up the phone to wish him a happy birthday.”
He added: “It would be the opportunity for his dad to reach out, and offer an olive branch. It’s the perfect time for them to check in and I would hope that Harry would do the same to them on their birthdays.”
Grant added that he believed Harry would be feeling sad around his birthday this year. He said: “We have the anniversary of the queen’s death coming up as well. Family is going to be at the forefront of his mind.
“I think there will be a part of him feeling sad and thinking about everything that has happened. Family has always been a big thing to Harry.
“William and Kate are also in Balmoral with Charles now, and Harry is used to be going up there every summer. So that will be playing a big part in what he’s thinking. He will be missing out on that.”
Grant went on to say that he did not see the Royal rift being healed any time soon. He added: “I think the damage has already been done now and I think at this moment in time, I don’t see it dramatically changing. Harry will be spending his birthday at home with his family. He might even do a party with his friends. It will be very different to how it would be celebrated if he was a working Royal.”
It comes after royal experts told OK! this week that the Queen would have been upset by Harry’s memoir Spare and the interviews he gave to promote it.
“I would surmise that she would have been very disappointed,” said commentator Richard Fitzwilliams. “There was no doubt that she would have perceived it as damaging to the institution of monarchy, especially among the young, so I think it would have aggrieved her.”
Royal author Hugo Vickers agreed, pointing out that the last Queen had already tired of Harry and Meghan’s revelations in the months that led to her death last September.
“I think the Queen was just fed up with the whole thing,” he said. “By that stage, her line was, ‘Well, I’ve done my bit and if you’re going to muck it all up later, that’s up to you’.”
Source: Read Full Article
