After losing his legal battle for higher U.K. security protections on Friday, Prince Harry said in a bombshell interview with the BBC that his father, King Charles III, “won’t speak to him” because of the matter. However, he “would love reconciliation” with the royal family.
Speaking to the BBC from California, where he now resides, the prince said he is “devastated” about losing the appeal, which concerned a judge’s decision last year to uphold the downgrading of his U.K. security arrangements after he and wife Meghan Markle stepped back from royal duties. Earlier on Friday, the court handed down a decision in the security case, which has been ongoing for over four years. Because of the loss, Harry told the BBC that it’s unlikely he’ll ever permanently return to the U.K.
“I don’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point,” he said. “And the things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything. I love my country, I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done … And I think it’s quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”
Harry, who first began legal action against the Home Office in 2021 for downgrading his taxpayer-funded police protection to a case-by-case basis, claimed “there is a lot of control and ability” in his father’s hands regarding the situation.
“Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him,” Harry said. “Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing experts to do what is necessary … I have had it described to me, once people knew about the facts, that this is a good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up, and that’s what it feels like.”
Buckingham Palace issued a rare statement in response to Harry’s interview, saying to the BBC: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
Harry went on to say that his legal battle over security has been the “sticking point” between him and several members of the royal family. “It is the only thing that’s left,” he said. “Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things. But I would love reconciliation with my family.”
The prince said that “life is precious” and “there’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” likely referencing the cancer battles both his father and sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, have undergone recently.
“I don’t know how much longer my father has, you know? He won’t speak to me because of the security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile,” Harry said, adding: “If they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them.”
Watch Harry’s full interview with the BBC here.