The Interview That Upstaged a State Banquet
It was, by any measure, a remarkable piece of timing. As King Charles stood at Windsor Castle to welcome the Sultan of Oman for a carefully choreographed state visit — months in the planning, full of carriages, military pageantry and diplomatic pomp — a bombshell interview from his younger son dropped online and threatened to steal every headline in the room.
Prince Harry's interview with GQ magazine, recorded in New York in late September and published on Tuesday, saw the Duke of Sussex speak candidly about his fractured relationships with King Charles and the Prince of Wales — and issue what amounted to a public olive branch, wrapped in a rather pointed caveat.
"Some people don't want it to work out," Harry told GQ. "I want it to work out. With everything else that's going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile. That's the key point."
Scars That 'Stick Around Forever'
Harry, who is 42 and now back in Britain with his wife Meghan and their two children — Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five — was asked directly whether he could repair what GQ described as the family "wound". His answer was guarded but ultimately hopeful.
"Look, scars stick around forever, but certainly letting go of the past — that's something that I would encourage everybody to do. For me, there's enough drama in the world and enough drama in people's lives than to continue with issues with family."
The family moved back to the UK in late August, six years after Harry and Meghan stepped back from their roles as working royals and relocated to California — a departure that deepened an already-widening rift with the institution. Their subsequent interviews and public statements, including accusations of racism directed at an unspecified royal and criticism of palace staff over Meghan's mental health, made reconciliation feel, at times, a distant prospect.
Yet here was Harry, speaking not with grievance but with what sounded like genuine weariness of the conflict itself. "There's sibling disagreements, there's broken relationships between kids and their parents," he said. "That continues to come up with me the whole time by people that I speak to, so I know how relatable it is."
A Spokesperson Steps In
The "some people don't want it" line was always going to draw attention, given its apparent implication. Royal commentators wasted little time in speculating about who, precisely, Harry might have had in mind. A spokesperson for the Sussexes moved quickly to dampen the flames, insisting the remarks were "absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family" and were made in a general context.
Whether that clarification fully lands will depend on one's view of Harry — those sympathetic to him will take it at face value; those less so will raise an eyebrow. Such is the nature of every utterance from the Duke of Sussex at this point.
Charles Strikes a Different Note at Windsor
Back at the state banquet, Charles chose warmth over acknowledgement of the day's other big story. Speaking to Sultan Haitham bin Tarik al Said, the King praised the deep ties between the two nations and expressed particular delight at seeing his son Prince William forge a friendship with Sayyid Theyazin, the Sultan's son, through their joint patronage of the Jewel of Arabia Expedition — a 30-day journey through Oman retracing the route of British explorer Bertram Thomas in 1928.
"There can be few happier symbols of success than a living relationship being passed from one generation to the next," Charles told his guest — words that, in the context of the day, carried an extra layer of resonance.
Among the 160 guests at Windsor were Camilla, the Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal and Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The menu featured Scottish crab and langoustine, Windsor pheasant and baked Alaska, with an after-dinner drink inspired by the Omani coffee ritual of Kahwa — reimagined using British teas and Windsor honey.
Harry also spoke in the GQ interview about his children's education, describing their first two weeks in British schools as a joy. "They're loving it and it's just giving them a whole different experience," he said, adding that it was "so important" for Archie and Lilibet to have two "completely different cultural experiences".
Whether the family's return to Britain will eventually extend to a thaw with Buckingham Palace remains the question no one — including, it seems, Harry himself — can definitively answer. But for the first time in a while, the Duke sounded less like a man fighting a battle and more like one who has grown tired of having it.
