King Charles Was Allegedly "Terrified" of Prince Harry and Always "Preferred" Prince William
Harry's "increasing volatility" was partially responsible, a royal expert claims.
![King Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry attend the Grenfell Tower National Memorial Service on December 14, 2017.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yT56eJphHxyRndhofLGKSR-415-80.jpg)
Prince Harry is sadly not on good terms with his father, King Charles, or brother Prince William. For instance, earlier this year, a royal expert suggested Harry and Charles' relationship was "terminally damaged" for a plethora of reasons. Now, a royal author has noted that the Duke of Sussex was perhaps always at a disadvantage with his father.
Royal author Tom Quinn, who wrote Scandals of the Royal Palaces: An Intimate Memoir of Royals Behaving Badly, told the Mirror, "Harry's real beef is that he is convinced Charles always preferred William anyway and not just because William is the heir." Quinn continued, "Harry’s difficulties when he was a teenager and his increasing volatility as an adult terrified Charles who turned to the far more stable, risk-free William."
As the heir to the throne, Prince William has likely been forced to follow some seriously strict rules. Conversely, Prince Harry's teenage years were regularly reported on. "Charles increasingly saw William as a safe pair of hands and Harry as too emotionally unstable," Quinn explained. "Deep down Harry knows this and he deeply resents it."
"Charles increasingly saw William as a safe pair of hands," a royal expert has suggested.
Unfortunately, relations between Prince Harry and his family have continued to deteriorate since he moved to Los Angeles. Earlier this month, a source suggested Prince William was "spitting mad" with his younger brother for talking about their late mother, Princess Diana, in the press. "He's so fed up with [the Sussexes] cashing in on Diana's death," a source told New Idea magazine (via Sky News Australia). "Harry just won't move on and it appears that since marrying Meghan, the obsession with his mother has only intensified," the source alleged.
Another report suggested William took umbrage with Harry receiving a large inheritance from their late great-grandmother. Prior to her death, the Queen Mother created a trust fund for William and Harry, so that they'd receive a generous inheritance when they turned 40, respectively. "William’s pretty disgusted that once again Harry’s going to be cashing out and taking millions back to his Montecito home without lifting a finger for it," a source told Closer in July. "There’s nothing he can do about it, aside from shaking his head, but if it were up to him, Harry would not be getting this payday."
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Amy Mackelden is a contributing editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.
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