Prince Harry was reduced to tears when he learned that his brother received an honor he once held, according to a new report.
Harry was in London last week as part of his celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, an athletic competition for wounded veterans. Not only did he and his father, King Charles, fail to meet, the king awarded an honor to William, Prince of Wales, that Harry once held, according to the U.K.’s Mirror.
Prince William is now colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corp, which is the unit Harry served with when he was in Afghanistan.
Royal expert and author Tom Quinn said the one-two punch of the failed meeting and honor left Harry devastated.
“King Charles’ announcement that Prince Harry is being stripped of his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps is a real kick in the teeth for the son who always felt marginalized and underrated. What makes it much worse is that the role is being given to the very man who Harry sees as the cause of so many of his problems – his brother,” Quinn said.
“And the announcement was deliberately made during Harry’s brief visit to the UK to have maximum impact – it shows Harry that he really is no longer welcome,” he said.
Quinn said senior royals “knew” the new honor would “really hurt” Harry, adding, “he is said to have been in tears when he heard.”
One of the key issues at the heart of the controversy is Harry’s marriage to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Many royal onlookers — and perhaps even the royal family itself — largely blamed Meghan for the frosty and severed state of Harry’s relationship to his family.
When the two eventually abdicated their roles in the royal family, the backlash was swift and noticeable.
Who is more responsible for Harry’s current situation? A1: Charles A2: Meghan A3: Harry himself
Senior royals “have decided the gloves are off and that Harry needs to realize that when you betray the family, you don’t just escape the things you hated doing as a working royal. You also lose the things you loved,” Quinn said.
“Being Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps was something Harry really did enjoy and of which he was very proud. There is a rushed feel to the whole thing too as if they can’t wait to be rid of this troublesome prince,” he said.
“Having always hated being the spare in terms of the succession he now finds that one of the few important roles he had as the younger brother has now been handed over to the person Harry himself described as his nemesis. Harry cannot fail to get the message – his last few ties to his old life are being cut and he is being set adrift, permanently,” Quinn said.
King Charles offered Harry the option of staying at a royal residence during his trip, according to the Sunday Times. Harry is believed to have stayed at a hotel, the report said.
Staying at a royal residence would have made connecting father and son easier, what the Times called friends of the king it did not name said.
“It’s all very sad,” an unnamed friend of Charles said, per the Times .
“While it is true that the King is understandably wary about meeting with Harry, given the publicity circus that seems to surround all such visits, he did of course agree to see his son at the most vulnerable moment of his illness [in February], and at very short notice,” the source said.
“While he was hardly going to roll out the red carpet the moment this Invictus trip was announced, with doctors advising him to focus on his treatment and recovery, the idea that he refused to find space in his diary … well, let’s say recollections may vary once again,” the source said.
A report in the Independent said Harry did not request to see his father, but was miffed when his father attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace and never moved to see his son.
“Could His Majesty not have made a request to see his son? It was widely known he was coming,” said a different friend of Harry’s, per the Independent.
