King Charles Pushed for Harry and Meghan to Return Home, Says Royal Source

Mark Peterson / REUTERS A friend of King Charles III has told the Daily Beast that Harry was “informally encouraged by King Charles to return to the U.K. because the king believes that the royal family is stronger united.” The friend added, “The king’s faith has played a part, but ultimately this is a strategic decision for the good of the family.

The stand-off needed to be resolved.” The friend added that nothing “concrete” would have been possible without a complete resolution of all Harry’s court cases and that they considered it “vanishingly unlikely” Harry would appeal his thumping civil defeat by the publisher of The Daily Mail that landed him and his seven co-plaintiffs with a potential £35 million ($50 million) legal bill.

Asked if William approved of his father’s tacit consent to Harry coming home, the friend said that the king had made it clear William and the future of the monarchy was the king’s “top priority.” The friend wouldn’t be drawn into a discussion of any “differences of opinion on specifics” between the monarch and his heir, saying only that William and Catherine were a credit to the monarchy and that Charles was “immensely proud” of them.

The comments represent the first time a close ally of the king has offered any details about the king’s strategic thinking.

The thoughts were relayed to me in response to a recent series of articles and videos The Royalist has published calling on the king to provide clarity vis-à-vis Harry’s situation.

The Royalist has argued that the king should have returned to London from his grouse-shooting holiday in Scotland to signal that he understood how gravely offended his people are by Harry’s return without an apology, and that some significant censure (such as removing the family’s HRH titles, which are already in abeyance) would reassure the public that Harry is not being positioned for an advantageous new settlement.

One former courter told me they were unsurprised that the king’s response was to “lose himself among the Highland heather and hills” and “bury his head in Duchy lemon posset.” But this is not the reaction of a unifying monarch.

The late queen understood, when faced with an analogous crisis, that Andrew had to go.

She was the head of a family and the head of an institution, but when the two clashed, the institution always came first.

Firing Andrew, her favorite son, took a huge emotional toll on her.

There are terrible parallels with the frozen royals sequestering themselves in Balmoral after Diana’s death in 1997, but this time there is no noble cause of children to protect.

The old friend noted the extraordinary engagement from my audience on the articles and videos, so it is good to know that somebody, somewhere is listening.