Royals United Against 'Mischief Making Smears'

CONTROVERSIAL claims of a rift between the King and Prince William were dismissed by royal sources as "mischief making".

-  Richard Palmer

Friends say the relationship is as "strong as ever" after fresh smears in new book Endgame by Omid Scobie, biographer of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan. However, insiders say the relationship between Charles and his elder son has, if anything, improved since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex broke with much of the Royal Family and quit to live abroad. It is however accepted that there are occasional tensions.

One source said: "The crisis over Harry and Meghan really brought them closer together. Relations between the King and his son are as strong as ever."

Another insisted: "They talk regularly and are in complete harmony as to their respective roles. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue. The simple fact is that the King and his son are united in how they see the monarchy developing and adapting to changes in society. They both have their own interests, but many of them overlap and they are fully supportive of each other.

"Claims they are in some kind of competition with each other are mischief making and nonsense."

The sources pointed to a happy Father's Day photo, taken by the Princess of Wales and released in June 2020, as the first outward sign of a strengthened relationship between the pair.

Shot a year before, as tensions deepened with Harry, it depicted Charles resting his head on William's shoulder while his son put an arm around him. One source said: "It was no accident that it was released. These things don't happen by accident."

Staff at both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have been ordered not to further fuel the fire over Scobie's latest book, which alleges that the future of the monarchy is in crisis with the institution fighting for its very survival.