26 January 2024 , 12:15
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As King Charles heads to hospital to undergo treatment for an enlarged prostate, he'll no doubt want to be surrounded by his family.
But one person unlikely to be there to support the monarch in person is his youngest son Prince Harry. The Duke of Sussex is currently estranged from his father, with the pair developing an incredibly fraught relationship over the years.
Harry has hit out at his dad on multiple occasions since stepping back from the Royal Family, accusing the King or lying and making jokes at his son's expense. With the King going into hospital, some experts are wondering if this will lead to a family reunion. Here, we've taken a look back at some of the turning points in Harry and Charles' relationship.
Lying accusations
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King Charles and Prince Harry have a broken relationship (Getty Images)
The monarch is preparing to undergo an operation (Getty Images)Prince Harry opened up about his relationship with his father in his and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan. In one episode, the Duke of Sussex discussed the tense Megxit meeting which took place after the Sussexes announced they would be stepping back from the Royal Family.
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"It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren't true, and my grandmother quietly sit there, and sort of take it all in," Harry recalled. He said the "saddest part" was the "wedge" it drove between him and his family.
Divorce struggle
The Duke of Sussex struggled when his parents divorced (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced in 1996 (Mirrorpix)Harry and his brother Prince William struggled when their parents split in 1992. Charles married the late Princess Diana in 1981, but their divorce was finalised in 1996.
Speaking in the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Harry said: "There was a point where our parents split and we never saw our mother enough or we never saw our father enough. There was a lot of travelling and lot of fights on the back seat with my brother."
However, Harry admitted his father tried his best when Diana sadly died in a horrific car accident. "[Our dad] was there for us — he was the one out of two left, and he tried to do his best and to make sure that we were protected and looked after. But he was going through the same grieving process as well," he said.
Blanking phone calls
Harry accused his dad of ignoring his calls (PA)In 2021, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Harry claimed his father had "stopped taking my calls" and admitted there was "a lot to work through" to try and fix their relationship.
Harry told Oprah: "I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like." He added: "I will always love him. There’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. I will continue to make it one of my priorities to heal that relationship."
It seems as though their relationship might be on the mend, with Harry recently calling King Charles to wish the monarch a happy 75th birthday. Meghan is also said to have been on the call, with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet filming a special video singing happy birthday to their grandad.
Parenting criticisms
Harry didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps (Getty Images)
He shares two children with Meghan Markle (Getty Images)Harry has slammed his father's parenting and admitted he wants to raise his children differently to how he was raised. "Isn’t life about breaking the cycle?" he questioned during an episode of the Armchair Expert podcast in 2021.
Harry added: "When it comes to parenting, if I've experienced some form of pain and suffering because of the pain and suffering that perhaps my father or parents suffered, I'm gonna make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on." The Duke of Sussex said he doesn't blame his father and believes he simply treated Harry "the way that he was treated".
Cruel Paternity jokes
Charles has been accused of making jokes at Harry's expense (Getty Images)Fans were shocked when Harry released his debut memoir Spare, in which he opened up about his time in the Royal Family. In the book, Harry alleged the King once joked about not being Harry's "real father".
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He wrote: "He'd laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumour circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy's former lovers: Major James Hewitt." Harry said one of his dad's favourite past times was to tell stories.
Money woes
The Sussexes sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey (Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese v)In March 2021, Harry and Meghan at down for a tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey. During the bombshell interview, Harry accused his dad of cutting him off financially.
He added: "I've got what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this. I think she saw it coming." Harry said this is what pushed him and Meghan to secure a deal with Netflix and admitted he felt "really let down" by his father.