With each of Prince Harry's baseless accusations against his family and emotionally charged TV rants, King Charles' heart has sunk lower and lower.
The 38-year-old's latest appearances, with 60 Minutes' Anderson Cooper in the US and ITV's Tom Bradby in the UK, have drawn condemnation of hypocrisy from his loudest critics - but for those closest to Harry, they see a sadder side of the duke's constant need to attack the royal family from his new home in California.
"Harry has made his case over and over again, and the more he goes on, the more desperate he sounds to provoke some kind of reaction from the palace," says a source.
"Charles is finally starting to understand that Harry doesn't hate him or the institution, and has started to see his public complaining as a desperate cry for help."
FEARING THE WORST
Indeed amid his latest accusations against Charles, 74, and Prince William, 40, for leaking stories about him and wife Meghan to the media, Harry also, somewhat bizarrely, admitted he wants his father and brother back.
"As much as Charles hates that Harry seems hellbent on sharing dirty family laundry with the highest media bidder, his heart goes out to his son," says a source.
"Harry's always been an emotional boy but he seems very lost at the minute, and Charles is worried about his mental health.
"It's also a lot for Charles to deal with becoming king in his mid-70s and watching his adult son publicly implode." In Harry's memoir Spare, leaked to The Guardian as Woman's Day went to press, Harry details a meeting with his father and brother after Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021. He recalls Charles looking at the then-estranged brothers flushed faces.
'Harry's always been an emotional boy but he seems very lost'
This story is from the January 16, 2023 edition of Woman's Day Australia.
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This story is from the January 16, 2023 edition of Woman's Day Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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