Prince Charles is reportedly having a hard time processing Prince Harry's public remarks about his experience with royal life. Over the past few months, the Duke of Sussex has shared his struggle with press intrusion, feeling stuck within the institution, and not feeling supported by members of the Royal Familyâincluding his father.
Princess Dianaâs friend Stewart Pearce shed some light on why Prince Charles is having such a hard time with his son's comments. Pearce describes Harry's candid remarks about his personal experience as a royal as âjust simply categoric observations about how perhaps [some royalsâ] behavior [were] not always as emotionally intelligent as it could be" to Us Weekly.
âFor example, Prince Charles is a very, very shy man, a very sensitive and delicate man, but we see his public personality, but in private, heâs immensely sensitive,â Pearce continued. He added that Charles can't handle "strong, combustible emotion."
Pearce went on to recall another time Charles refused to deal with an emotional situationâwhen his late ex-wife, Princess Diana, accused him of having an affair with his current wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. "What he did was to shrink back and as a result of that became aloof,â Pearce said. âWell, that doesnât heal the challenge thatâs taking place.â
âThatâs what Charles does," Pearce explained. "He canât deal with it because of his sensitivity, so he hides. What Harryâs trying to do is to heal that. Not out of umbrage, not out of anger or revenge or criticism or accusation. ⊠I felt that he was just somebody saying, âThis is the way that it is, and this is why we want to make change.'"
Though Harry has pledged to heal his strained relationship with his father, it's unclear whether he's made any headway towards that goal. Shortly after the birth of Lilibet Diana, however, Prince Charles said a rare comment about his son's family. He called his grandaughter's birth "such happy news."