King Charles III's latest move has cleared one thing to his feuding sons Prince William and Prince Harry that no one can stop him using his power to make decisions.
The 75-year-old left everyone in guessing about his intentions regarding his estranged son Prince Harry as he decided not to meet the Duke during his much-hyped trip to the UK.
A royal expert has shared his thoughts on the King's decision to snub the Duke during his Invictus Games milestone in London, saying it's "very disappointing" as the monarch run the risk of appearing "petty" by instead announcing an appearance with Prince William.
However, after the King's snub to Harry, Buckingham Palace announced that on May 13, Charles will attend a joint engagement with William to officially hand over to him the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, Harry's old army regiment.
Newsweek's chief royal correspondent Jack Royston expressed his fear with Sky News anchor, saying it could prove detrimental to the monarchy as Harry's veteran status is still hugely respected in Britain, calling the move "very disappointing."
"I also think the monarchy is at risk here of looking a little bit petty. Part of the reason for that is that on the very day that we discovered that Harry and Charles weren't going to meet, they also put out a news release advertising an event next week in which Charles is going to give William an accolade that 100% would have gone to Harry if Harry was still a working member of the royal family."
"It's about how the public read the myth of the motivation behind [Charles] not seeing Harry," Royston said of how this move will play with the public.
"When it was simply the case that Charles wasn't going to see him, that was hugely disappointing. The risk is that they look like it's deliberate and that it's petty, so they need to realize that if the public perceive this as a petty swipe at Harry.
The expert went on claiming: "That could actually wind up playing very badly for the monarchy, because this is a subject on which Harry still commands huge respect as a veteran of Afghanistan."
He said: "I get asked so often, 'Will they ever simply repair the relationship?' And I think that's what most members of the public actually want more than anything else. They want royal relations to be warm again."
The Duke of Sussex is currently in the country of his birth to attend the 10th anniversary of the sporting competition at St. Paul's Cathedral today ( May 8). Harry's spokesperson has confirmed that Harry-King meeting is not happening during the trip. The reason given was "due to his majesty's full program."