King Charles III and Prince William Have Become 'Closer Than Ever' After Health Scare, Say Friends

Since it was announced that King Charles III had cancer, Prince William has assumed royal responsibilities with elegance, as reported on by CNN. Despite their past disagreements, the heir apparent has developed a formidable relationship with his father. A palace source has revealed that the father and son are 'closer now than they have ever been.'

A friend of the Prince of Wales told The Daily Beast, “I think William is particularly grateful things are so good now because it’s fair to say the relationship between William and his father when he was younger was strained." The source added, “The Harry debacle definitely drew them together, but since Charles became king and he became Prince of Wales, the relationship has moved to a different level. Charles values William’s support. They are closer now than they have ever been.”

The source continued about how King Charles was hurt by Prince Harry's public attacks on the royal family: "William and Harry had an extraordinary upbringing, with the trauma of their mother’s death overshadowing everything. Charles was this old-fashioned, quite distant figure who seemed much more interested in work and duty and what the press thought of him than parenting. That forged an incredibly strong bond between Harry and William, which was why it was such a shock when Harry turned on him so publicly." 

Speaking about Prince William's relationship with his younger brother, the friend said, “William is a strong-minded character, but the reason everything is working is because he respects his father’s rank. He wouldn’t dream of telling the king how to run his personal life. He doesn’t want to see Harry because he thinks it would all just be put in the next book or TV interview, which is what happened this time, but he is entirely relaxed about his father meeting with his son. They both agree there is no prospect of Harry returning to represent the royal family, despite what Harry may want—and that is the important thing as far as William is concerned.”

“William has made no secret of his desire to have greater impact, and in many ways the ground has been prepared by Charles’ activist tendencies when he was Prince of Wales. William would have needed the government’s sign off to make these comments, not his father’s, who would not be in the business of vetoing what William can and cannot say anyway. Ultimately, this message was endorsed by the government so it would have been in Charles’ red boxes. He would have known it was coming, and we can only presume he didn’t object,” another royal insider said about Prince William's recent 'ceasefire' comments on the Gaza issue.

A close friend of the monarch responded as to whether the king's cancer diagnosis had motivated him to improve his connections with his sons when they said, “It’s absolutely not fair to say that Charles was a cold or disinterested dad. He’s a very warm man and worried endlessly about the impact of everything that happened in their childhoods on the boys, but the diagnosis has come as a huge shock, and instinctively something like this makes you appreciate and draw together with your family.”