King Charles III, one of Britain’s richest men, lives in a palace and travels in a chauffeur-driven Bentley, but his family life is complicated, like many of his subjects. With a second wife, an embarrassing brother, and an angry son and daughter-in-law, there are allies not shy about whispering family secrets to friendly reporters. The new king is hoping to keep a lid on those tensions when his blended family joins as many as 2,800 guests for his coronation on May 6 at Westminster Abbey. Charles is aware that how he manages his family drama over the coming weeks and years is crucial to preserving and protecting the 1000-year-old hereditary monarchy he now embodies. As without the respect of the public, the House of Windsor risks being lumped together with pop stars, social media influencers, and reality TV contestants as fodder for British tabloids, undermining the cachet that underpins its role in public life.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers suggests looking past sensational headlines and focusing on what Charles accomplishes now that he is king. “In a sense, he sort of becomes a new man when he becomes king,” said Vickers, author of “Coronation: The Crowning of Elizabeth II.””Look at him as he is now, look at him the way he is approaching everything, look at his positivity and look at how right he’s been on so many issues. Unfortunately, he had difficult times with his marriages, and some of the other issues or family feuds, but we live in a very tricky era.”
Prince Harry’s new round of allegations dropped last week, claiming his father prevented him from filing a lawsuit a decade ago in written evidence for his invasion of privacy claim against a British newspaper, claiming Charles did not want to dredge up graphic testimony about his extramarital affair with the former Camilla Parker-Bowles when he was married to the late Princess Diana. Diana was the mother of Harry and his elder brother and heir to the throne, William, the Prince of Wales. Camilla, now the queen consort, went on to marry Charles in 2005 and will be crowned alongside her husband at Westminster Abbey. If the past is any indication, attention will now shift to body language, seating plans, and even wardrobe choices during the coronation, as royal watchers look for any signs of a thaw in the family tensions.
However, Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, doesn’t expect Harry to have a lot of contact with the rest of his family, and he won’t be in the U.K. for long, leaving little hope for fence-mending. The royal soap opera didn’t begin with the current generation of royals, but Charles grew up in a different era under the glare of media attention. He has been a controversial figure ever since the very public breakdown of his marriage to Diana, who was revered by many people for her looks and her compassion.
The Queen Elizabeth II burnished the family’s reputation with a 70-year reign, in which she became a symbol of stability, cheering the nation’s victories and comforting during darker times. George VI, Charles’ grandfather, is credited with saving the monarchy with a life of low-key public service, replacing his flamboyant elder brother.
The repeated attacks led to months of speculation about whether the couple would be invited to the coronation. The palace finally answered that question two weeks ago when it announced that Harry would attend but Meghan would remain in California with their two children. Then there’s Charles’ brother, Prince Andrew, who became a toxic time bomb inside the royal family when the world learned about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the financier’s long-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew gave up his royal duties in 2019 after a disastrous interview with the BBC, trying to explain away his links to Epstein and Maxwell. He was stripped of his honorary military titles and patronages as he prepared to defend a civil lawsuit. Andrew denied the allegations but settled the suit last year before it came to trial. While terms of the agreement weren’t released, The Sun newspaper reported that Charles and the late queen paid the bulk of the estimated 7 million pound ($8.7 million) settlement.
