This month saw Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle return to Europe for a visit.
While America is Harry’s home, it was good for him to reconnect with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
It was reportedly less good for him to touch base with his father, Prince Charles.
According to royal insiders, Charles is fed up with his son’s post-royal life.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle stopped in the United Kingdom for a visit.
They were en route to the Hague, for the Invictus Games.
During the stopover in Harry’s homeland, they visited Windsor Castle and spoke with the Queen.
Harry has spoken openly of that encounter, affirming his love for his grandmother.
He spoke about making sure that she’s happy and safe and making her laugh.
It has, after all, long been perceived that he is the Queen’s favorite grandchild — and why wouldn’t he be?
Harry has not been so open about a private and brief meeting that he reportedly had with his father, Prince Charles.
According to royal insiders speaking with dubious authority to the British media, the future king was “not particularly happy” about any of it.
Apparently, he strictly stipulated that he wouldn’t even meet with Harry unless his son promised to keep their conversation under wraps.
Harry, who grew up in the spotlight, one that only magnified after the tragic death of his mother, has never struggled to keep private things private.
However, apparently Charles was fixated on this concern, particularly after allegedly not being in much contact with Harry recently.
Charles was described as feeling that Harry was at the “end of his tether,” as their strained relationship has worsened.
Other, similar reports from the notorious British media have said that the royal family as a whole is tired of the “drama” of Harry and Meghan.
With some insiders likening the Sussex pair to a “soap opera,” it didn’t sound like the kind that keeps people hooked.
Instead, the reports gave the vibe that all of the house of Windsor was just holding their breath until Harry and Meghan moved on.
If that sounds like a grotesque and politically self-serving characterization of a complicated family dynamic by a media culture infamous for its prejudices … well, yeah.
We’re sure that Harry and the Queen were delighted to see each other in person.
Similarly, it’s very believable — if not confirmed — that Harry may have had a tense, even awkward meeting with his father.
It may sound strange to American audiences — by and large, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are very well liked in North America — but that is not the case in the UK.
The same pernicious social and cultural forces that haunted Princess Diana until she died hounded Meghan Markle from the moment that she arrived.
Unlike Diana, she is a divorced, Black, American woman, making her even more of a target for the lowest common denominators in British society — and to the papers who market to them.
Fortunately, Harry and Meghan have felt welcomed with open arms in their new community in Santa Barbara, California.
The nice thing about visiting family instead of living with family is that, when some of them suck, you can just leave.
Relatively few people outside of the UK (England, specifically) particularly care for Prince Charles, so who would blame Harry for moving on?
