It’s been nearly two weeks since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in which they claimed that they were faced with racism from within the British royal family. Now, a source close to the royal household is saying that Harry’s father Prince Charles is feeling “enormously let down” by their racism allegations.
During the interview, Meghan claimed that there were “concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie’s] skin might be when he’s born” within the royal family. While she would not say which royal family member raised these concerns, Harry later said it was neither Queen Elizabeth nor Prince Philip.
The source told People Magazine that Charles “feels enormously let down” by the interview.
“The prince believes in diversity and his actions show that,” the source explained. “He was the first person to highlight the Windrush generation [the first mass immigration from the Caribbean to the U.K. in the 1950s] and the contributions they made to British society. He has worked hard for the Muslim community. Of all the members of the royal family, he has taken this issue the most seriously.”
The source went on to say that Harry, 36, and his older brother Prince William, 38, have always had a “complicated relationship” with their father.
“It’s not a straightforward father-son relationship,” the palace source added. “He is their father and their boss, and they are beholden to him to fund their offices and lives.”
In the interview, Harry claimed to Oprah that Charles stopped taking his calls after he announced he was stepping down as a royal.
“I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar. He knows what pain is like,” Harry said. “And Archie’s his grandson. Of course, I will always love him, but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.”
The source went on to say that the Queen, 94, is “worried” about how the racism claims affect the Commonwealth, which are the 54 countries around the globe that view the Queen as their monarch and head of state.
“She will be very worried about how [the racism claims] have gone down in countries she has supported and loved and given her life to throughout her reign,” the source said.
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