According to a royal biographer, Prince Harry would be dissatisfied with King Charles’ recent move.
On Monday, King Charles turned 74 years old. He marked the occasion by announcing that his two siblings, Prince Edward and Princess Anne, would join the Council of State as new members. Several experts were convinced that they were added, so Prince Andrew and Prince Harry would not be called to represent the new monarch.
When she appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Vanity Fair royal editor Katie Nicholl weighed in. She discussed Prince Harry’s possible reaction to his father’s latest move, which, according to the author of “The New Royals,” was a demotion on the Duke of Sussex’s part.
Nicholl told ET:
“I think it’s going to be frustrating, possibly quite upsetting for Prince Harry and Prine Andrew, knowing that they’ve essentially been demoted. I mean, the King has been diplomatic. I think in not stripping them of their roles as Counsellors of State, but that essentially means that Charles is not going to be using Andrew or Harry as a substitute and I think that’s just another probably quite [a] painful reminder for Harry that he’s willing to be out of the royal family.”
Nicholl’s claims could not be independently verified by International Business Times.
Other royal experts saw King Charles’ decision as a slight to his son and brother.
Russell Myers, royal editor of the Daily Mirror, stated on “Today” that:
“It does definitely seem that Andrew and Prince Harry have been given the elbow for their respective sort of insolences against the monarchy.”
Prince Harry’s biographer, Angela Levin, called the move “a slight to Harry and Andrew.” However, the author of “Harry: A Biography of a Prince” thought it was necessary.
Levin explained to Mail Online:
“Harry and Meghan would be absolutely furious. But he lives in California, he’s stopped being a working royal, so why should he [be a Counsellor of State].”
She added, referring to the addition of the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex as the king’s official stand-ins:
“Reading between the lines allows him the ensure that the right people are doing the right job.”
The same sentiment was expressed by royal biographer Robert Jobson, author of “William at 40” and “Prince Charles at 70.” It was “sensible,” he said, for the king to turn to other working royals rather than Prince Harry.
He told Newsweek:
“He has to be in Britain to do it. Even if Harry remains a counsellor of state, it’s impractical, it doesn’t work when the king is abroad. If the king goes to America, Harry is hardly likely to step in for him when he is in America too.”