The mounting pressure on Prince William to hold out an olive branch to Harry is ‘grossly unfair’, according to The Daily Mail’s Diary Editor, Richard Eden.
The news of the King’s recent diagnosis with an unspecified form of cancer has led to calls from some commentators for William to make the first move towards a reconciliation – despite the criticisms of the Royal Family made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Writing in the latest edition of his Palace Confidential newsletter, Eden says such expectations are both unrealistic and wrong-headed. ‘Harry and Meghan’s behaviour over recent years has been appalling and will have scarcely helped the mental health of the Royal Family members they have betrayed and traduced,’ he says.
‘From what friends of William and Catherine tell me, Harry would need to make a heartfelt apology to them before they could even start the process of rebuilding relations.’
On hearing the news that his father was unwell, Prince Harry issued a statement on Monday that he would be flying to see him. This, says Eden, was done ‘with almost indecent haste.’ He continues: ‘the bulletin came scarcely half an hour after Buckingham Palace had announced that King Charles was suffering from cancer and had begun treatment.
‘Prince Harry’s statement provoked countless articles this week urging the Prince of Wales to use the opportunity of his brother’s visit to mend fences, for the sake of their father. ‘William does need his brother right now,’ claimed the BBC’s former royal correspondent Jennie Bond, for example.
‘It soon became clear, however, that Prince William had “no plans” to see Harry, who left Britain after just 24 hours, having paid to stay in a hotel rather than sleep in one of the many royal residences in London.
‘The King met Harry at Clarence House for little more than half an hour. This was, I can reveal, less time than His Majesty spent with Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, the previous day.