Prince Harry is hitting back.
The Duke of Sussex has refuted a report by the Sunday Times claiming he would be a no-show at his father King Charles’ upcoming 75th birthday bash despite being invited.
“In response to UK media headlines, there has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday,” Harry’s spokesperson told the Messenger Monday.
“It is disappointing the Sunday Times has misreported this story.”
Additionally, a royal source told the outlet that Buckingham Palace “never reached out” to Harry.
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace declined to comment to the Messenger.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, has had a strained relationship with his father for several years.
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, resigned from their royal duties in 2020 before eventually settling in Montecito, Calif., where they now live with their two children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
Harry and Charles became even more distant with the release of the former’s bombshell memoir, “Spare,” in which he accused his father of making jokes about his “real” dad.
“Pa liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire. He’d always end with a burst of philosophizing … Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father?” Harry wrote.
More must-see royals coverage:
- How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle met
- Prince William and Kate Middleton’s relationship timeline
- Royal family tree and line of succession
“He’d laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumor circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt. One cause of this rumor was Major Hewitt’s flaming ginger hair, but another cause was sadism.”
Harry also wrote that Charles warned him that the royal family didn’t have “enough money” to support Markle, 42, financially and even suggested she continue acting.
The Invictus Games founder also claimed that his father didn’t even hug him when he told his son Princess Diana had died in a car crash.
In September, a royal insider alleged that their rift would eventually be mended — but only for the sake of public optics.
“Ultimately Charles has not just a personal but also a strategic need to resolve the issue,” a former palace staffer told the Daily Beast.
“It’s not sustainable for the king, who is the national symbol of unity, to be on such bad terms with his son,” the source added.
Just five years ago, in a BBC documentary to mark Charles’ 70th birthday, Harry praised his father for doing an “amazing job” as a role model and expressed his gratitude for his “support” of him and Markle.
