King Charles’ ‘fondness’ for Prince Harry takes centre stage

King Charles showed “preferential” closeness with his now-estranged son, Prince Harry.

The Duke of Sussex left his royal duties behind and moved to California, US, in 2020, having a strained relationship with his royal family.

In 2023, Harry called his difficult childhood “generational trauma” in his memoir Spare and described himself as a “spare” to his brother William, saying, “I was the shadow, the support, the Plan B. I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy.”

“I was summoned to provide back-up, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part. Kidney, perhaps. Blood transfusion. Speck of bone marrow,” Harry said at the time.

However, old footage of Prince Harry and his father, King Charles, from June 2003, in which they were having a warm and friendly moment after a polo match.

In the video clip, Charles can be seen praising his youngest son and calling his performance “brilliant.”

'You scored two goals didn't you?' the monarch asked, at which 18-year-old Harry replied, 'Three.'

“Well done, brilliant,” the father praised.

Reflecting on this warm conversation, a British body-language expert, who is also an author and television commentator, Judi James told Daily Mail, “Charles’s physical awkwardness might be legendary but in clips like this one he appears to be giving Harry a unique form of watchful attention that is littered with subtle but powerful displays of fondness.”

Adding, “We have Charles creating a preferential form of proximity with his youngest son, both when he sits with one boy on either side and then very emphatically when another player joins them and Charles sits next to Harry, mirroring him and chatting quietly while William is now one seat away.”

She further said that Prince Harry appeared shy and less confident, while his older brother looked more comfortable in front of the camera spotlight, stating, “Red-cheeked and bashful-looking, he sits hunched and glowering slightly, hiding his face behind his hand and a glass in a gesture of shyness that would probably promote feelings of empathy in his father, who often looked like the shy, awkward, isolated and less confident member of his family group when he was younger.”

It is pertinent to mention that, back in 2017, King Charles called youngest son his “darling boy,” and Prince Harry had also referred to his father as “Pa.”