Prince Harry’s “Some People Don’t Want It to Work Out” Bombshell Overshadows King Charles’ State Visit

0:03 Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Britain welcomed a Sultan of Amman for a state visit for the first time in 44 years, with Charles, Camilla, William and Kate gathering in Windsor in pouring rain. Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Saeed received a carriage procession and a ceremonial welcome at the castle. The last such visit was in 1982 when Queen Elizabeth hosted his cousin, the late Sultan Qaboos, at Buckingham Palace. William began the day by greeting the Sultan at one of his British residences on behalf of the King. Catherine joined Charles and Camilla for the welcome outside Windsor and Eton Riverside Station. Charles removed his top hat and shook his guest's hand while Catherine greeted him with a deep curtsy beneath the covered dais.

1:02 The party then transferred to enclosed horse-drawn carriages for the journey through Windsor. Charles and the Sultan travelled together in the Irish state coach, talking side by side as the procession headed towards the castle. Camilla followed in the Scottish state coach with Oman's Deputy Prime Minister for Defence, Saeed Shibab bin Tariq al-Saeed. William and Catherine rode in the Australian state coach with other officials. At Windsor Castle, Charles and the Sultan reviewed the Guard of Honour before watching the march past. Camilla wore a vivid red Fiona Clare dress and coat, a Philip Treacy hat and a ruby and diamond flower brooch. Catherine chose a dark green Alexander McQueen coat by Sarah Burton with a Juliette Botterill hat.

1:47 The Independent suggested that their red and green outfits nodded to the Omani flag. although that interpretation was not confirmed in this report. And my apologies for any mispronunciations of those names. Normally, a state visit would dominate the calendar. Harry stole the spotlight. The prince says he wants to repair his relationship with his family, but he also says he is not convinced everyone wants the same outcome. Some people don't want it to work out. I want it to work out. Harry did not say who he meant. The comment came during a 47-minute interview with Zach Barron for GQ's One More Question series. It was recorded at the magazine's New York offices during Harry's recent trip to the city and released on Tuesday morning. It is his first major interview since he and Meghan returned to Britain with Archie and Lilibet. Asked whether he grieves the relationships he once had with his father and brother, Harry said, Yes, of course. I think from a family perspective, again, another massively relatable issue for so many people. sibling disagreements, broken relationships between kids and their parents, kids and one parent.

2:52 That continues to come up with me the whole time with people that I speak to, so I know how relatable it is. People may look at us and go, how are you going to work it out? Maybe that will help me work my stuff out. Barron then asked how he would work it out. That brought the response about some people not wanting reconciliation. Harry called reconciliation the most important thing. He also said that scars stick around forever. There was no announcement of the meeting, no account of a new conversation with William and no explanation of what practical steps might follow. Harry made his own wish clear while leaving the people he believes are obstructing it unnamed. He also gave a brief response when asked about Charles' health.

3:32 Baron mentioned his own father's cancer diagnosis and asked about the experience of having a sick parent. Harry said his father is getting better. He did not offer further details about treatment or prognosis. Most of the conversation concerned grief including the years Harry spent struggling to understand his response to Diana's death. The appearance accompanies his new masterclass made with Dr. Mary Frances O'Connor, a researcher who has studied grief and loss for decades. Harry described bereavement as something he has learned to live with, rather than something he expects to get over. For a long time, he worried that allowing himself to be happy would mean betraying his mother's memory. That left him carrying both the loss itself and a sense of guilt about moving forward. He spoke about their final telephone call. At 12 years old, he mainly wanted to return to playing with his cousins. He said that, had he known it would be their last conversation, the call would have gone very differently. It is a memory he has had to revisit with the knowledge of everything that followed, knowledge he could not have had as a child. Harry also looked back at how he behaved when he was younger, going out with friends, he said, had sometimes been a way of suppressing sadness, although he did not recognize that at the time. He described the military as an escape from his grief, Therapy eventually helped him understand what he had been carrying and change how he dealt with it. Discussing access to that help, he acknowledged his own privileged position. Let's not forget, I'm a prince.

4:58 He also used his royal status, half-jokingly, to brush aside sympathy elsewhere in the conversation. Harry said he still thinks about his mother almost every day. Becoming a father has brought another awareness. How easily a parent's feelings can reach a child, even without a conversation. He recalled the period when Archie was a baby. After spending a day in London, he would use the drive home to shed his stress before arriving. He felt Archie could sense it the moment Harry picked him up. Returning to Britain now gives him a chance to introduce both children to more of his own childhood surroundings. At the time the interview was recorded, Archie and Lilibet had been seen at a British school for about two weeks. Harry said they were loving it. Seeing them settle into school had meant more to him than he expected. He spoke warmly about being closer to friends and family and about showing the children where he grew up His description of the move, nevertheless, left the longer-term plans open. Harry said it was good to be out of the United States for the next few months, giving things time to settle. The family would then work it out from there. That wording stops short of setting out a permanent arrangement. For now, he described the immediate benefits of being back, particularly for the children, without saying how the family would divide its time in the future.

6:10 The Baron also asked whether Harry had found that things had changed since he left Britain. Harry said his own attitude towards the press certainly had. He described himself as optimistic, but not naive, and said he could respect the press if they respected him. Later, he defended his decision to tell his story publicly. In Harry's account, remaining silent does not stop stories from being written. He argued that much of the coverage is invented or poorly sourced, and that speaking for himself takes away a lot of power from other people. He also said that proper journalism is so important. There was also a joke about the publishing industry's interest in the Windsors. I wrote one, but they all wrote thousands.

6:51 More palace in just a moment. In his Substack, royal insider Deep Crown writes, The Sultan of Oman arrived at Windsor this morning in the rain, and nobody reached for an umbrella. The king took off his top hat to greet him on the dais in Datchet Road. The Princess of Wales curtsied deeply in the Two monarchs rode up to the castle side by side in the Irish state coach. It is the first state visit by the Sultan of Oman since 1982, and it comes at a time when Oman's talks with Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz matter rather more to this country than the subject of most state visits does. Buckingham Palace announced the dates on the 3rd of September. Did I mention that the date was announced on the 3rd of September? I mentioned it because it was not a secret. Buckingham Palace said so. Writers carried it within the hour. and it has been sitting in the diary of every royal correspondent in the land ever since. We are told by people who claim to know that the Prince of Wales is still furious with his brother. I have my doubts about that. I have none about myself. The Prince of Wales may not be furious, but I am. At ten o'clock the same morning, GQ released a conversation between its writer, Zach Barron, and the Duke of Sussex. By lunchtime, the Express was calling it a brutal dig at his family. Having now listened to all of it, I think the headline does the Duke a disservice, though perhaps not the one his friends will complain of. The GQ interview was recorded in New York after the dates of the state visit were public. It came out on a Tuesday because GQ puts its interviews

8:21 out on Tuesdays, and another one comes along every seven days. A guest of the Duke's standing who asks a magazine for a particular week is generally given it. A magazine that has secured the Duke of Sussex is not going to lose him over a date. Whether anyone on his side thought to ask I do not know. If they asked and GQ refused, I should be surprised. If nobody asked, that is the more telling answer. And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com. If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button up there that says listen uninterrupted, get the show commercial free for five bucks a month. What a bargain. And if there is a creator or podcaster or social media creator in your life, we have a new program out from Caloroga. a piece of software that runs in your browser. It uses AI, it edits and publishes, and we do our show on this program. It's called Linnet, L-I-N-N-E-T, and you can try it free through December at linnetmedia.com. Check it out. We appreciate your support, your feedback, your help, and everything else.

9:26 I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue, and good times.