The Prince and Princess of Wales continue to make headlines this summer. And from their upcoming house move to Windsor’s Forest Lodge, to their new rules and boundaries as they prepare to be King and Queen, the royal couple has been front and centre.
It was Prince William’s relationship with father King Charles that made headlines this week, as multiple sources reported that the pair were barely speaking.
This, according to insiders, is off the back of a “fraught” summer, with the King and heir to the throne said to disagree on the future of the monarchy.
“Charles believes in tradition and continuity above all,” a royal insider reported to The Daily Beast. “[While] William thinks many aspects of his father’s approach are outdated, preferring a more modern interpretation of monarchy.”
The source added: “To William, continuing to run the monarchy as though it were still an Edwardian institution feels absurd. To Charles, his son’s more casual approach can feel like a lack of respect for duty and tradition.”
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And with the alleged tensions mounting between the father and son this summer, their relationship is said to have become “tense, difficult, formal and fraught”.
In fact, despite both spending the summer holidays in Balmoral, as per Mountbatten-Windsor tradition, King Charles and Prince William reportedly “spent no time at all together privately one-on-one”, with “the vast majority of their communication mediated by their private secretaries”.
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This comes amid reports that King Charles is looking to heal his relationship with youngest son, Prince Harry, with the pair set to take part in a “secret peace summit”.
“It’s early stages,” an insider recently explained to RadarOnline. “But both sides are looking at this meeting between reps as a start, a breaking of the ice. Right now, the feeling is both Charles and Harry want to move forward to a point where they can at least sit down face-to-face.”
And while Prince William is not involved in the peace talks, with the two brothers reported to have ceased contact, the sources have emphasised that “the King would never have made these moves without William’s support and understanding.”
We will continue to update this story.