King Charles' reconciliation with Prince Harry is reportedly 'being blocked' by William

It's a complex situation

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales kisses his son Prince Harry as Prince William, Duke of Cambridge looks on ahead of the Invictus Games Opening Ceremony at Queen Elizabeth II Park on September 10, 2014 in London, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

King Charles would reportedly quite like to improve the Royal Family's relationship with Prince Harry, but there's an important roadblock: Prince William.

Royal fans didn't fail to notice that the King left any mention of Harry, Meghan and their two children out of his annual Christmas speech in 2024. Though this can certainly be seen as a deliberate decision on the Firm's part, one source has claimed that said decision wasn't Charles's.

This source told The Daily Beast that, in the publication's words: "Charles would like to reconcile with Harry but is being blocked from bringing him back into the family by William."

As royal watchers well know by now, William remains deeply upset by Harry and Meghan's revelations about the royals in Spare, their Oprah interview, and through other media appearances.

In particular, they accused a senior royal of racist remarks, revealed that Kate and William had known about Harry's scandalous Nazi costume beforehand, and opened up about a physical altercation between William and Harry.

Though they have been in the same room in recent months, it's believed that the two royal brothers have not spoken in many months, if not years, with William declining to see Harry any time he's in the UK.

Meanwhile, Harry met with his father in February 2024 after the King announced that he had cancer, though their meeting at the time was brief. Charles has declined to see Harry on his subsequent visits to his home country.

In terms of why William has such a say in whether Harry can be welcomed back into the royal fold, as The Daily Beast writes: "William’s consent is needed because Charles, who is sick with cancer, feels he cannot bequeath his heir a settlement with Harry that William cannot live with."

Here's hoping everyone can smooth things over in the coming year.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.