King Charles makes it clear Harry cannot be a ‘half-in, half-out’ royal

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping back from official duties in 2020. Photo / Getty Images

King Charles III has made it “absolutely clear” that the Duke of Sussex cannot be a “half-in, half-out” member of the royal family.

The UK’s Daily Telegraph understands that the monarch, who met his younger son for 54 minutes at Clarence House earlier this month, will continue to uphold the late Queen’s wish that members of the royal family do not undertake official duties while also earning money.

It is understood that the father and son may meet privately on an occasional basis, now that the duke has appeared to draw a line under his high-profile public criticisms of the monarchy and now that his Home Office security hearing is over.

But he will not be permitted to join the royal family in any official public role.

A royal source said: “The King has been absolutely clear in upholding his late mother’s decision that there can be no ‘half-in, half-out’ public role for members of the family.”

Public show of unity

The duke is believed to want to make more public appearances in Britain, after a four-day trip earlier this month when he attended an award ceremony and visited charitable organisations.

The trip, royal commentators noted, closely resembled the work he did while in the royal family. He is reported to have been given police security for the WellChild Awards, using his own protection team for the rest.

The Mail on Sunday claimed that “high-level” talks were under way between aides to bring the King and the duke together for a “public show of unity”.

The newspaper reported that Buckingham Palace courtiers and Sussex staff were “tentatively discussing” arranging for the pair to get together “more frequently over the next year, with a view to them finally appearing jointly at a public event”.

Prince Harry is known to hope that his father will attend the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027.

The Mail on Sunday claimed that the duke might now take part in more public events in Britain, outside of the royal family, returning “four or five” times a year. A source told the paper it didn’t “need to be as part of the ‘working’ royal family”.

The source is reported to have added pointedly: “Harry’s visit to the UK was not about trying to show up or compete with his brother – in fact, the opposite.

“It was to remind William that Harry can be there to take some of the load off, given some of the criticism William has received for carrying out a lower number of engagements than his father.”

It is also claimed that the duke deliberately avoided undertaking public engagements during the recent US state visit so that he did not risk overshadowing the King and Donald Trump, the US President.

In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they intended to “step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty the Queen”.

In a statement, they said: “We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth and our patronages.”

But following the Sandringham summit, Buckingham Palace said that, while the Queen had given her blessing to the Sussexes maintaining their “private patronages and associations”, they could “no longer formally represent” her.

The duke and duchess went on to give their interview to Oprah Winfrey and produce a Netflix documentary spelling out their grievances in the royal family. Prince Harry wrote his memoir, Spare.

In May, after losing his Home Office security appeal, the duke told the BBC: “I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile.”

In September, the King met his younger son at Clarence House for a cup of tea. In an interview with The Guardian a few days later, the duke said of the coming year: “The focus really has to be on my dad.”

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