Buckingham Palace has dismissed rumours that King Charles may be obliged to allow Prince Harry stay at Kensington Palace during his next visit to the United Kingdom.
The disagreement arose after it was revealed that there is apparent tension surrounding the Duke of Sussex’s function as counsellor-of-state, which makes him one of seven members of the royal family who can deputize for the King if he is overseas or ill.
Counsellors of state, which include Princess Anne and Prince Edward, are required by law to have a residence in the United Kingdom, but Harry, who lives in California, is functionally homeless in the country after being booted from Frogmore Cottage earlier this year.
In a bid to resolve the issue, sources claimed royal courtiers have discussed leasing a property on a royal estate to Harry and Meghan.
Royal sources told The Sunday Times that one option is an apartment at Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Kate have a home and private office. But these suggestions were quickly shut down.
A friend of Charles said: ‘The King can see that to remove Harry as a counsellor of state would be seen as an act of antagonism and he does not want to do that.
‘If, as a consequence of that, somewhere on the royal estate needs to be earmarked as a pied-à-terre for his son, that seems a reasonable thing to do.’
Buckingham Palace refuted the idea, telling the newspaper bluntly: ‘These claims are not true’.
It is understood that the King does not want to remove Prince Harry and Prince Andrew as counsellors of state to avoid escalating tensions within the royal family.
It comes after it was revealed that Prince Harry was denied a room at Windsor Castle earlier this month during his brief visit to London.
The Duke travelled into London from the United States for the WellChild Awards and asked to remain at Windsor while his father Charles stayed at Balmoral to commemorate the Queen’s death anniversary.
He allegedly wished to stay at the Castle the next day to visit the Queen’s grave at St George’s Chapel, but his request was denied.
The Prince was advised that in the future, if he wished to stay in a royal residence or visit King Charles while in the UK, he would need to book in advance.
The Duke’s staff first contacted Buckingham Palace after confirming his participation at the London-based awards presentation, saying he would want to see and stay with his father if at all feasible, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
Harry was told that he would need to put in a formal request.
After sending the specific dates and timings of his trip, during which he only had a 24-hour window in the UK before leaving for the Invictus Games in Germany.
The Palace explained that the King would be at his Balmoral estate in Scotland where Harry was welcome but both parties decided it would be impossible with the time constraints.
After this option failed, Harry asked if he could stay in Windsor but due to the short notice this could not be arranged.
Harry stayed in a hotel for the night instead. He was allowed to visit the Queen’s grave, which he did privately.
