Prince Harry’s position in the royal family seems to be up in the air as King Charles mulls over his younger son’s legal role.
Charles and his reign have seemingly entered ‘uncharted’ territory as the monarch continues to retain Harry as his Counsellor of Estate despite evicting him from UK home.
The Duke of Sussex is one of the King’ counsellors of states, which means that he is one of the few Royal Family members who can step in to rule if necessary. The position has become challenging since a prerequisite for the role is to have a UK residence.
“We are really in uncharted waters here: the Prince Harry situation is not something the law easily allows for,” Dr Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law explained to GB News.
“The idea of the second son of the King choosing a life away from royal duties is not something the law has thought about, and I can imagine that Buckingham Palace would be concerned by that. The King had the chance to remove him with the counsellor of state legislation last year, but chose not to.”
Apart from Harry, who is the fifth in the line of succession, the line-up for the counsellor estate also has Prince Andrew and his daughter Beatrice. Charles later added Princess Anne and Prince Edward to the list.
However, according to royal sources, courtiers have discussed leasing a royal estate property to Harry and Meghan to overcome this legal problem.
King Charles may not be on the best of terms with son, but it seems that the monarch does not have the heart to completely cut him out.
Royal sources have previously revealed that ‘Charles loves his son’ but is looking for a ‘positive change’ before reconciliations.