By Molly Claire Goddard
8:04am PST, Jan 8, 2026
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According to royal expert
Tom Sykes, King Charles III will avoid
Prince Harry when he arrives in the U.K. to continue his legal battle against the press. "The main reason the two men are not meeting is simple logistics, but the king's side is saying it is because the king does not want to be associated with Harry's court case," the journalist wrote for
The Royalist Substack.
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Tom Sykes also noted that
Prince Harry's lack of remorse for spilling the family's secrets in his 2023 memoir is a sticking point for King Charles III. "The King's side briefed that there could be no meaningful reconciliation between Harry and the King unless he apologized for
Spare," he said.
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Tensions between King Charles III and
Prince Harry appeared to ease last year after the two shared afternoon tea at Clarence House. However, following the meeting, the Duke of Sussex accused his father's staff of leaking information about the reunion to the press.
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In the days following his meeting with King Charles III,
Prince Harry doubled down on writing about his relatives in
Spare. "I don't believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public," the father of two told
The Guardian. "It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear. It is not about revenge. It is about accountability. You cannot have reconciliation before you have truth."
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Prince Harry will visit Britain to continue his ongoing legal battle, as he and other high-profile claimants, including
Elton John and actress
Sadie Frost, sued U.K. publications for $50 million. The plaintiffs cited alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking, bugging and impersonation for private records spanning multiple decades.
