Prince Harry’s relationship with his brother Prince William is icy, but a new report suggests that at least one royal insider believes it could thaw.
The rift between the two brothers, which has played out publicly over the past few years, is described as “very bad” but not “irreparable,” according to a source who spoke to PEOPLE.
The insider said Prince Harry has reached out to his brother through “texts, calls, and messages,” but they get ignored.
Similarly, calls and letters that the Duke of Sussex has sent to his father, King Charles, have allegedly gone unanswered.
“He gets ‘unavailable right now,'” a friend of Harry’s told PEOPLE. “His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.”
Harry, the youngest son of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, last saw his father, the King, in February, when he flew to the UK after learning of Charles’ cancer diagnosis. The meeting was reportedly positive, albeit brief – lasting no more than forty-five minutes.
According to the royal insider, the relationship between father and son has since deteriorated, with Harry getting the silent treatment from Charles.
In May, Harry traveled to the UK again to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. However, he did not meet with either his father or his brother.
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said at the time that Harry was not able to meet with his father because of the monarch’s “full schedule.” Yet sources who spoke with PEOPLE suggested a larger issue was at play, an issue that may have made the King less than keen to meet with his son.
Harry has been embroiled in a longstanding legal battle with the British government over his request that he be provided official police protection when he and his family members are in the UK. The government has denied Harry’s request and the prince has repeatedly lost challenges to the decision in court.
However, sources close to Harry suggest that he wants his father to intervene on his behalf.
Yet a palace source has told PEOPLE that King Charles can’t do anything to alter the British government’s decision on police protection, calling Harry’s interpretation “wholly incorrect.”
“Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father,” a royal insider told PEOPLE.
“Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs,” another source shared.
Harry reportedly felt blindsided by his loss of police protection, which occurred after he and Meghan decided to step down as senior working members of The Royal Family, because he asserts that the late Queen Elizabeth, his grandmother, wanted him to have “effective security.”
Speaking to this issue, the royal insider claims, “The Queen made it clear [before she died] that effective security was necessary [for Harry and his family] due to the threats against them, but somewhere along the line there was interference.”
Should the security issue get resolved, a friend of Harry’s said it would be “swords down” in terms of Harry’s public feud with The Firm.
The friend added that nothing “would give [Harry] more happiness than being able to rekindle his bond with his father.”
However, Harry and William’s relationship does not seem to have quite as clear of a path forward.
The brothers have been at odds since at least 2016 when William cautioned Harry against rushing towards the altar with his then-girlfriend Meghan Markle. They have gotten no closer to reconciliation since Harry did his 2021 interview with Oprah alongside Markle, his “Harry & Meghan” Netflix docuseries, and since he released his tell-all memoir, “Spare.”
Harry and William did, however, put on a show of unity in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s passing in 2022, greeting well-wishers outside of Windsor Castle who came to pay their respects to the woman who was the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
