Wounded Harry’s appeal to his family deserves a magnanimous response

His critics have, so far, been proved wrong. Charles, an activist prince, has tempered such zeal now he’s on the throne. His reign, though, isn’t a carbon copy of his mother’s. From my perspective, as someone who used to observe the Windsors closely for the BBC, one of the striking changes is their warm embrace of spin, to rival Alastair Campbell in his New Labour prime.

Too many in the media are way too susceptible to such offerings. Buckingham Palace press officers become “sources” and their take, via a WhatsApp group for royal reporters, is often published unquestioningly on news websites.

Most of the time, such “sources” are pushing at an open door with their recipients knowing on which side their bread is buttered. When it comes to Prince Harry, the palace is on to a winner. Harry bad, William good has been the mantra ever since he thought he could be a half in, half out senior member of the royal family.

And so this simplistic lens has been deployed by many papers who in their reporting of Harry’s latest alleged misdemeanour fail to point out that Diana’s son is, or has been, embroiled in legal action against several newspaper publishers. Given this context, I wasn’t surprised by the coverage of Harry’s response (via a BBC interview) to his failure to secure changes in his security arrangements in the UK. Royal sources have huffed that it was in “poor taste”; the interview has been dismissed as a “diatribe”.

If you’re paid to burnish how King Charles is viewed by the public, you’d be tempted to conclude job done, move on. I think that would be a foolish approach to take for an ancient institution that in its modern manifestation is all about family, unity and promoting tolerance. In his Christmas broadcast last year, Charles praised the communities who came together after the 2024 riots, “to repair not just buildings, but relationships”.

Harry is using this BBC interview to challenge his father and brother to put their own house in order. Those who know him well speak of his strong moral compass, a characteristic shared by his late grandmother. They suggest it’s not a universal royal attribute. Cast aside by his own family, with the salivating support of much of the press, Harry is seeking rapprochement.

Trust, or the perceived lack of it – when it comes to their California- based relative – is the “get out of jail card” favoured by Charles and William. You can’t overstate how important this quality is to the royals. “Can we trust you?” was the instant response of one of the late Queen’s relatives (who’d endured the IRA murder of Earl Mountbatten) when I mentioned that I have Irish heritage.

Charles and William are both stubborn and, I suspect, no one is encouraging them to budge. They should. A bitter family dispute, played out globally, is not a good look. It will feature negatively in assessments of the current reign by historians.

Having cancer will have prompted Charles to reassess his priorities. The disease does that. He’d be wise to take his wounded son at his word and attempt reconciliation. The alternative is a Harry sore that festers, a family riven and the risk of a reported prophecy becoming a reality. According to Spare, Harry’s memoir, his father once implored: “Please, boys – don’t make my final years a misery.”

Peter Hunt is a commentator on the monarchy and constitutional issues. He is a former BBC royal correspondent