King Charles fears 'serious legal jeopardy if he buries hatchet with Prince Harry'

King Charles still has a rocky bond with youngest son Prince Harry with recent reports suggesting they are not speaking - and a royal biographer has revealed one of the main reasons why the monarch is not keen to talk about one main issue with Harry

King Charles' fears over burying the hatchet with Prince Harry are due to the fact it could cause "serious legal jeopardy", it has been claimed.

Father and son have long had a rocky relationship, especially since Harry and wife Meghan Markle quit their royal roles over four years ago and moved to the US. Last year, Harry also released his explosive memoir Spare, where he railed against his royal relatives, most notably his father and brother, Prince William.

Recent reports have suggested that the pair are no longer on speaking terms as Harry attempts to discuss his security arrangements in the UK with his dad. The Duke has been embroiled in a long-running battle over his security with the Home Office when he comes to the UK after he automatically lost the right to his police protection when he stepped down as a working royal.

He has lost his subsequent court battles to have it reinstated for him, wife Meghan and their two children and is planning an appeal. And according to a constitutional expert, it is said the King fears being dragged into Harry's legal row - and could be left in an awkward position.

In a recently updated version of the book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story by Robert Hardman, which being serialised in the Daily Mail, an advisor is quoted as saying: "Here you have the infelicitous situation where the King's son is suing the King's ministers in the King's courts. That is pulling the King in three directions. You also have the situation where the King's son publishes accounts of private conversations, some of which have been, shall we say, wrong."

It is believed the adviser points to one of the sections of Spare, where Harry recounts being told of the death of the Queen Mother. He says he received a call with the news while at school in Eton. In fact, Harry was actually on holiday skiing with Charles and William.

The adviser adds: "So imagine the situation if the Prince were to talk to his father about his court case and then later to describe that conversation – or, worse, a conversation which was not entirely accurate. There would be serious legal jeopardy. Harry would only have to say, 'My father said this' and a court case could collapse. That's not just awkward. That's bad. That is deep legal and constitutional jeopardy when you are head of state and of the judiciary and it is His Majesty's Government."

It comes after PEOPLE magazine reported that Harry believes his dad could help to have his security reinstated, although this has been dismissed as "wholly inaccurate" by a palace source. A friend of Harry's told the magazine earlier this year: "He gets 'unavailable right now'. His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King's health, but those calls go unanswered too." While another friend added: "Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father," while another source added: "Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs."

Harry took legal action over the February 2020 decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) which ruled he would no longer be given the "same degree" of publicly-funded protection when in the country. Ravec's decision came as a result of a change in the duke's 'status' after he stopped being a "full-time working member of the royal family ", a judge was told.

In February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke's case that he was "singled out" and treated "less favourably" by the decision and concluded Ravec's approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. After the ruling, a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement that the Duke "hopes to obtain justice from the Court of Appeal".

During a hearing at the High Court, it was told that Harry believes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot "feel at home" in the UK if it is "not possible to keep them safe" there. At a previous hearing in the case, in a written statement, Harry said: "It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. The UK is my home.

"The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home, as much as where they live at the moment in the United States. That cannot happen if it's not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm's way too."