‘Legal jeopardy’: King Charles fears building bridges with Prince Harry

Prince Harry reportedly did not meet with his father on a visit to London earlier this month. Photo / Getty Images
The monarch could be placed in “legal jeopardy” over the Duke of Sussex’s tendency to “publish private conversations”, a constitutional expert says.
The King fears building bridges with Prince Harry in case he is dragged into his son’s court case against the Home Office, it has been claimed.
The monarch fears any attempt to repair his relationship with the Duke of Sussex would place him in “legal jeopardy”, according to a constitutional expert.
Prince Harry is fighting a long-running case against the Government over a decision to downgrade his security following his departure from the UK.
Constitutional experts are said to fear that the Prince’s tendency to repeat private conversations between family members, most recently in his memoir, Spare, often allegedly misremembering specific incidents, could put the King in an embarrassing position if aired in court.
One senior constitutional expert and adviser to the royal family told royal biographer Robert Hardman: “Here you have the infelicitous situation where the King’s son is suing the King’s ministers in the King’s courts. That is pulling the King in three directions.”
“You also have the situation where the King’s son publishes accounts of private conversations, some of which have been, shall we say, wrong.
“So imagine the situation if the Prince were to talk to his father about his court case and then later to describe that conversation – or, worse, a conversation which was not entirely accurate. There would be serious legal jeopardy. Harry would only have to say, ‘My father said this’, and a court case could collapse.”
Royal advisers are understood to have discussed the case of former butler Paul Burrell, who was charged with theft after police discovered hundreds of items belonging to Princess Diana at his home.
His 2002 trial was abandoned at the 11th hour after Queen Elizabeth II suddenly recalled Burrell had told her he was looking after Diana’s things for safekeeping.
The collapse of the trial caused embarrassment to the royal family over claims of inappropriate involvement and palace officials will be keen to avoid the risk of renewed claims that the monarchy is meddling in legal affairs.
According to Hardman’s updated book on Charles, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail, palace officials say the King is not opposed to some sort of rapprochement with the Sussexes.
But they point out the situation is complicated by the fact several Palace staff who have had dealings with Harry and Meghan are resentful of the way he has portrayed them.
They insist staff and officials did everything in their power to help the Duchess, but it was she who refused to co-operate.
Palace sources said they would not comment on speculation or books. In June, Prince Harry was given permission to appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the Government’s decision to take away his police protection when in Britain.
Harry launched the action after the Home Office ruled in February 2020 he would not automatically receive personal police security while visiting the UK.
Retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the Duke’s case in February this year, ruling the decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) had not been irrational or procedurally unfair.
The Prince lost an initial attempt to appeal but will be able to ask the Court of Appeal directly for permission to challenge Lane’s decision.
His legal spokesman said: “The Duke of Sussex hopes he will obtain justice from the court of appeal. The Duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of Ravec’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with Ravec’s own written policy.”
Sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex maintain the King could intervene in the matter and help broker an arrangement that would ensure their security needs are met when visiting Britain.