El rey Carlos podría "dejar de lado" al príncipe Harry y a Meghan Markle en sus planes para la familia real

Sep 23, 2022

Tras la muerte del príncipe Felipe en abril de 2021, se creyó que el rey Carlos III posiblemente planeaba dejar fuera a uno de sus hijos y a su nuera en sus futuros planes monárquicos. Cuando la reina Isabel II enviudó, Carlos asumió más responsabilidades para aliviarla de algunas de sus funciones, y se informó que sus planes parecían dejar fuera al duque y a la duquesa de Sussex. Ahora que Carlos ocupa el primer puesto de la familia real tras el fallecimiento de su madre, es posible que siga adelante con sus planes de reducir el tamaño de la familia real.

Según la biógrafa especializada en la realeza, Angela Levin, Carlos planeaba "echar" al príncipe Harry y a Meghan Markle de la familia real. Durante una entrevista con talkRADIO en 2021, Levin tocó el tema al hablar sobre "el plan largamente mantenido de reducir el tamaño de la firma". También explicó cómo Carlos y la difunta reina parecían tener ideas diferentes sobre lo que había que hacer con respecto al futuro de la familia real.

"El príncipe Carlos lleva mucho tiempo queriendo reducir la monarquía para ahorrar costes y hacer valer el dinero que recibe de los contribuyentes", dijo Levin. Siguió con sus propias reflexiones sobre lo que eso significa para los planes futuros de Carlos. "Imagino que será cuando Harry y Meghan dejen de ser miembros de la familia real", dijo en ese entonces.

Carlos y su hijo menor han tenido una relación difícil a lo largo de los años, especialmente desde que Harry decidió apartarse de la familia real para vivir en Estados Unidos con su esposa. Desde entonces, la pareja ha tenido dos hijos juntos. Aunque la reina y su hijo también tuvieron sus diferencias, ahora que él es rey, Carlos es quien toma las decisiones.

Ever since Harry and Meghan announced their departure from the royal family, rumors abounded that there were tensions in the royal family. That was confirmed after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their controversial, tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. During the television special, the couple openly criticized the royal family and its culture. They talked about various topics including how some family members worried about the color of their then-unborn son’s skin, Harry’s estrangement from his father and Meghan’s very dark, depressing thoughts.

The relationship between Harry and his father King Charles III hadn't appeared particularly close in the past but the interview all but confirmed it. However, soon after the interview aired, Prince Philip passed away in April 2021. Although it was a time of mourning for the royal family, Philip's funeral, in some ways, was a segue for the family to heal after a tumultuous time. It was also the first time that Harry and his family reunited after his and Meghan's abrupt departure in March 2020.

According to Express UK, Charles was reported to be "very hurt" following the interview in March 2021, and to assuage the hurt and work with the family during the difficult time of the funeral, Harry wrote his father a "deeply personal" letter.

Following the controversial interview with Winfrey, Metro UK reported that Harry's relationship with his father hit "rock bottom" after a "complete communication breakdown." Charles was thought to be "very hurt" after the two-hour special aired, especially because Harry accused Charles of no longer taking his calls. As per the news outlet, sources claim that Harry was "forced to write letters" to his father because of the lack of communication. 

In one of the letters, NZ Herald reported that Harry "outlined his reasons for leaving" his position as a senior member of the royal family and added that he would continue to "respect the institution" while living his new life in California. Harry also reached out to his father before he prepared to reunite with his family for the first time since leaving for the US in March 2020. 

Metro UK also reported that a royal source said at the time, "He wrote a deeply personal note to his dad to try and set things straight but tensions are still running high and things haven’t exactly ironed out the way he had hoped." The source continued, "There had been a kind of unspoken agreement between everyone to park whatever has been on each person's mind, and solely concentrate on supporting the Queen ahead of Prince Philip's funeral."

Earlier, "the feeling inside the camp was that it wasn't the time nor the place to go over things, especially at such an emotional time for everybody involved," but later news reports also stated that peace talks between the family members seemed to have begun by the time Harry visited the UK for his grandfather's funeral. 

After the funeral had ended, Harry was seen talking with his brother William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, which raised hopes that the siblings had finally begun to thaw their frosty relationship. The moment was believed to be the first time the brothers had spoken in person after Harry and Meghan's controversial interview was released.

Following their brief conversation, the brothers met for "peace talks," as reported by the Daily Mail, away from the cameras in Windsor Castle and with the inclusion of their father Charles. About this, a royal insider told Metro UK, "There is no way this is the end of the crisis in their relationships but it’s a good gesture and a nice way to take the first step towards healing."  

After Harry's trip, he returned to California to be reunited with his family, and in June 2021, Meghan gave birth to the couple's daughter Lilibet. Compared with their time as working royals in the UK, the Sussexes have enjoyed a different kind of life in sunny California with their two children. It seems that life in Montecito, California, offers a particular kind of freedom that the couple didn't get when they were still a part of the royal family and lived in the UK.

The family's life there is laid back and Harry and Meghan are able to parent Archie and Lilibet as they wish. In fact, Archie attends a nursery school that offers more than the traditional kinds of teachings — although those are still represented, of course.

British publication The Mirror spoke with a parent of one of the other children who attends the nursery. Unsurprisingly, little Archie seems to garner a lot less attention than he would get if he were to attend an English nursery school. The parent said:

"Harry often drops Archie off and picks him up, and seems like a good dad. All the parents have been laid back in welcoming Harry and Meghan, without making a fuss. And to the other kids, Archie is just one of them. They don't know his parents are royalty, and probably wouldn't care — unless Meghan was a Disney princess."

Harry has taken to fatherhood incredibly well, and he doesn’t just talk about mental health, he practices self-care every chance he gets. The father acknowledges that as busy parents, sometimes caring for your own needs gets lost along the way. "The self-care is the first thing that drops away. I'm happy to admit that — as a husband, as a dad," he said.

Although they aren't in the public eye as much as they once were, the Sussexes do share moments from their life from time to time, including official interviews and projects they've worked on. In 2021, Harry released a TV show with Winfrey titled, “The Me You Can’t See." He later went on to have a book deal of his own, with his first official memoir coming out sometime in fall 2022. Through it all, the Duke of Sussex has been dedicated to breaking stigmas surrounding mental health and providing resources to help as many people as possible.

But while Harry and Meghan were busy living their life in California, the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II brought their strained relationship with the royal family back into question. Alongside mourning the late queen — who reigned for an unprecedented 70 years — the royal family experienced several new changes in the line of succession to the throne and new titles for several royal family members. 

Now that Charles is monarch, it's unclear how secure Harry and Meghan's roles in the royal family will be. A royal commentator revealed, in the wake of Philip's death in 2021, that Charles may have had plans to cut the Sussexes out of the royal family when he became king, despite Elizabeth's wishes.

A diferencia de su hijo, la difunta reina Isabel parecía querer mantener la familia unida, a pesar del precio que pudiera costar. "Creo que el centro del asunto es que la reina ha querido mantener esto unido durante mucho tiempo por razones sentimentales, que particularmente a su edad no quería cambiar, lo que creo que es comprensible", explicó Levin en 2021.

Carlos y la reina pasaron tiempo juntos tras la muerte de Felipe, en los días previos a la ceremonia de apertura del Parlamento el 11 de mayo de 2021. Este acto marca formalmente el inicio de una sesión del Parlamento en el Reino Unido, y suele incluir un discurso desde el trono, que daba la reina. Había inaugurado todas las sesiones del Parlamento desde que se convirtió en reina, excepto en 1959 y 1963, cuando estaba embarazada. Carlos acompañó a la reina durante el acto de 2021, que acabó siendo el último, ya que su mala salud le impidió estar presente en la apertura del Parlamento de 2022, que fue inaugurada por Carlos y su hijo, William, príncipe de Gales.

Cuando en el 2021 Levin habló sobre el futuro papel de la reina, comentó: "Creo que, aunque quiera cumplir con sus obligaciones, dará un paso atrás, incluso más, será bastante difícil volver después de la pandemia y todo el aislamiento". Levin concluyó sus reflexiones sobre el futuro de la reina y su relación con Carlos: "De hecho, ella agradecerá que él se encargue de tomar, imagino, decisiones bastante importantes en nombre de la familia real".

A pesar de llegar a su trascendental celebración del Jubileo de platino, la reina falleció el 8 de septiembre de 2022. Ahora que Carlos es el rey, tendrá vía libre para seguir adelante con sus planes de prescindir de Harry y Meghan si así lo desea.

Carlos y su hijo Harry han tenido su cuota de altibajos en su relación. Al parecer, Carlos estaba "muy dolido" tras la entrevista con Oprah Winfrey de marzo de 2021, y para mitigar el dolor y colaborar con la familia durante el difícil momento del funeral, Harry escribió a su padre una carta "profundamente personal", según ExpressUK.

Metro UK informó que la relación de Harry con su padre tocó "fondo" tras una "ruptura total de la comunicación". El dolor de Carlos tras la emisión del especial de dos horas fue más profundo, sobre todo porque Harry acusó a Carlos de dejar de atender sus llamadas. Según el medio de comunicación, las fuentes afirman que Harry se vio "obligado a escribir cartas" a su padre debido a la falta de comunicación.

La publicación también informó que una fuente de la realeza dijo: "Escribió una nota profundamente personal a su padre para intentar arreglar las cosas, pero las tensiones siguen siendo altas y las cosas no se han limado exactamente como él esperaba." La fuente continuó diciendo: "Había habido una especie de acuerdo tácito entre todos para congelar lo que estuviera en la mente de cada uno y concentrarse únicamente en apoyar a la reina antes del funeral del príncipe Felipe". Felipe fue enterrado el 17 de abril de 2021. El funeral de Isabel tuvo lugar el 19 de septiembre de 2022, y tanto Harry como Meghan viajaron al Reino Unido para estar allí con la familia real.

La relación inestable entre padre e hijo podría sin duda influir en la decisión final de Carlos de incluir a su hijo y a su nuera en sus planes monárquicos. Harry y su padre tienen un largo camino que recorrer para reconstruir su relación de cara al futuro de la familia real.

¿Qué opinas sobre el rey Carlos y su decisión de prescindir del duque y la duquesa de Sussex? Cuéntanos y no dejes de pasar esto a tus amigos y familiares.