During a recent speech, King Charles only mentioned one of his sons. On Tuesday, July 8, King Charles delivered an emotional speech at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. King Charles and Queen Camilla welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigette Macron and about 160 other guests.
At the state banquet, King Charles spoke about the relationship between the United Kingdom and France. He also honored his son Prince William, failing to mention Harry at all.
He made a comment about ‘my son’ — meaning Prince William.
Given that the event was hosted at Windsor Castle, King Charles shared a touching tribute to William. “The castle in which we meet this evening was begun by my ancestor — and your sometime countryman — William, Duke of Normandy, in the year 1070,” Charles said, per the New York Post. “It remains the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world.”
He continued with, “So it is perhaps rather appropriate that my son, the Prince of Wales, who shares that earlier William’s name, has made Windsor his home with his family, like so many of our predecessors.”
Prince Harry described being ‘the Spare’ in his memoir.
The fact that King Charles didn’t mention the Duke of Sussex during the recent speech might make sense given the context and their current estrangement. At the same time, in his memoir, Spare, Harry alluded to feeling secondary to Prince William throughout his life, even before he stepped back from royal duties.
“Two years older than me, Willy was the Heir, whereas I was the Spare,” he wrote. “This wasn’t merely how the press referred to us — though it was definitely that. This was shorthand often used by Pa and Mummy and Grandpa. And even Granny. The Heir and the Spare — there was no judgment about it, but also no ambiguity.”
He added, “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 backup, distraction, diversion and, if necessary, a spare part.”
Prince Harry recently said he’s open to reconciliation.
Prince Harry’s relationship with his family has been especially strained since stepping back from royal duties and moving to the United States with his wife, Meghan Markle. But in May 2025, Harry told the BBC that he’s still hoping for reconciliation.
During the interview, Harry said he has “forgiven” his family. “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious,” he said at the time. He also spoke about his father specifically and revealed that he was not speaking to him.
“I don’t know how much longer my father has,” Harry added. “He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile.”
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