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Damage is done: Prince Harry warned rift with Prince Charles is widening beyond repair

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Updated on June 15, 2023

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See more articles on:Oprah Winfrey, Prince Charles, Prince Harry

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Prince Harry has been warned that divide between him and his father has “widened”.

The message was sent to the Duke of Sussex in a recent TV documentary that aired over the weekend.

Following the Duke’s face-to-face interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry’s relationship with his father, the Prince of Wales, has been strained to the breaking point. According to a new royal documentary released by Channel 5, Harry’s remarks during the historic interview “may have hurt those closest to him.”

In ‘Charles & Harry: Father and Son Divided,’ royal experts and close aides address the harm done to Prince Charles’ relationship with his youngest son, Prince Harry.

“There is no doubt the gulf between Harry and Charles had widened considerably,” royal author Tom Quinn said.

“I mean I think if they are not careful it will be very difficult to bridge that divide in future.”

“I can’t see how they can do it.”

Mr Quinn’s fear is shared by Palace figures who have extensive knowledge of Prince Charles and Harry’s once close relationship.

Though Harry told Oprah that “time heals all things”, Grant Harrold, a retired royal butler, said, “The damage is done”.

“And that makes me sad,” he said in the show, “because the relationship that I knew which was a loving, caring, fun relationship can never be like that again.”

Following Prince Harry’s exceptional claims on his podcast, Prince Charles’ relationship with his father, the Duke of Sussex, has been in the spotlight.

Harry, 36, told host Dax Shephard that his father, 72, “suffered” as a result of the Queen and Philip’s parenting, and then “treated me the way he was treated.”

“I verbalise it, which is, ‘Isn’t life about breaking the cycle’?

“There’s no blame, I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically.

“It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say ‘you know what, that happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you’.”

He also admitted that when he was in his twenties, he wanted to leave his royal duties and compared royal life to a cross between The Truman Show and living in a zoo.

Prince Harry’s new interview drew backlash, and now a royal expert says it’s “hurtful” to his family.

“I think that Prince Harry’s latest broadside is a disgrace and is truly hurtful to the royal family specially William, Charles and the Queen,” Charles Rae, a former royal editor at The Sun, told Entertainment Daily!

“Following the equally appalling interview with Oprah Winfrey it was thought there would be some bridge building to repair the damage from that fall out, but this is a strange way for Harry to build a bridge.”

“I cannot see how relationships between Harry and the family can ever be repaired,” Mr Rae added.

“Harry has turned into a petulant Prince who deserted Britain to escape his life of privilege and to have privacy.

“This is a strange way of being private. He has not stopped giving interviews.

“The recent podcast with Dax Shepard is Harry using a machine gun approach to further cause distress to the Royal family.

“He even managed to upset the citizens of his adopted country by criticising the First Amendment which protects free speech and the press and he described it as bonkers.

“Talk about biting the hand that is now feeding you! Harry really does need to shut up now.”