Chaos Engulfs Royal Family as King Charles Bars Prince Harry From Staying at 775-Room Buckingham Palace

The highly anticipated return of Prince Harry to the land over which his father, King Charles III, reigns has been thrown into chaos over where the prodigal Duke of Sussex will rest his head — a new row for the House of Windsor, which has faced no shortage of discord between the monarch and his younger son. The Crown announced on Monday morning that Harry, who lives at the coastal enclave of Montecito, California, with his American wife, Meghan Markle, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, would not be welcome to sleep at Buckingham Palace. That announcement came some 15 minutes after the prince asserted in a statement that he would stay at the palace.The Crown explained that the Sussex team was offered use of the palace but failed to respond in time to arrange sufficient staffing. A spokesman for Prince Harry responded in a statement that the invitation was “withdrawn” — a decision he described as “disappointing.” Buckingham Palace, which contains 775 rooms, was first built in 1703, before being expanded into its current form in 1825. Much of the palace is now under construction. Prince Harry is traveling to England from the Golden State for a pair of charity engagements, one of them to mark one year until the 2027 Invictus Games at Birmingham, an enterprise that has long enjoyed the patronage of the prince. He will also be at London for a legal verdict regarding his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail. The case turns on claims of unlawful information-gathering.Some have speculated that the king was unenthusiastic about his son being in residence at Buckingham Palace when the verdict will be handed down. If Prince Harry emerges victorious, he could give a public speech, further drawing his family into the contentious litigation. The prince’s decision to leave his family at home was reportedly related to security concerns. The Royal and VIP Executive Committee’s Risk Management Board, which handles security for the royals, was allegedly unresponsive, a confirmation of which the British Home Office declined to provide.“It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on protective security arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security,” the Home Office said in a statement. The prince has long been incensed by the British government’s stance that his family is not entitled to blanket protection because he is no longer a working royal. Instead, his security is assessed on a case-by-case basis.The Sussexes pulled back from the House of Windsor in 2020, a retreat sometimes referred to as “Megxit.” That retreat from royal duties allowed them to pursue commercial opportunities in America, including the signing of a multi-million dollar contract with Netflix. The Sussexes agreed to relinquish their most exclusive titles — “His Royal Highness” and “Her Royal Highness” — and to abjure public funds. Prince Harry is still sixth in line to the throne. Relations between the Sussexes and the royal family devolved further in 2023 when the prince published his memoir, “Spare.” In that book Prince Harry — via his ghostwriter J.P. Moehringer — claimed that he engaged in a physical altercation with his brother Prince William, the Prince of Wales. Sussex calls Wales his “arch-nemesis.” Prince Harry also wrote that he and his brother both referred to Queen Camilla as their “wicked stepmother.” Prince Harry divulged that he lost his virginity in an “inglorious episode with an older woman.”Prince Harry has hardly been the only source of grief for King Charles. His brother, the erstwhile Prince Andrew, is facing the possibility of criminal charges for misconduct in public office following his long association with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The king has stripped his brother, now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, of his royal titles. The king is facing calls to remove his brother from the line of succession. Prince Harry has told the BBC that he “would love reconciliation” with his family. “There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. I don’t know how much longer my father has,” he said. The king, 77 years old, is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. He has not seen his grandchildren in four years.

Chaos Engulfs Royal Family as King Charles Bars Prince Harry From Staying at 775-Room Buckingham Palace

Chaos Engulfs Royal Family as King Charles Bars Prince Harry From Staying at 775-Room Buckingham Palace

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