'Horrified' King Charles 'Deeply Uncomfortable' as Prince Harry's Attacks on Trump Risk Royal US State Visit: Report

When Prince Harry launched his latest barrage against Donald Trump over remarks about NATO, he appeared to overlook one crucial detail: his father, King Charles III, would be left to deal with the diplomatic fallout. Palace insiders say the king is 'deeply uncomfortable and horrified' by the timing of Prince Harry's heated attacks on Trump, particularly given the monarch's imminent state visit to Washington, DC, where the president will serve as the official host. The row has created precisely the kind of constitutional headache the crown was keen to avoid.

The dispute erupted after Trump claimed Nato allied troops 'stayed a little back, a little off the front lines' during the war in Afghanistan. For Harry, a 41-year-old decorated military veteran who served on the front line with the British Army, the comments amounted to a direct insult to the memory of fallen soldiers. The Duke of Sussex responded with the raw emotion that has become his trademark, noting that the UK alone lost 457 service personnel in Afghanistan. The human cost, he said, was staggering and impossible to dismiss.

'I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there,' Harry stated bluntly. 'Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost. Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.'

It was a powerful and authentic statement, one that many Britons found moving and justified. Yet it created a genuine nightmare for a monarch bound by constitutional convention to remain above the political fray.

King Charles and Prince Harry's Trump Row

A palace source told royal insider Rob Shuter that while the king understands his son's emotional response, he is fundamentally horrified by the timing. 'Charles understands the emotion,' the insider revealed. 'But he's horrified by the timing. This is diplomacy — not podcast politics.'

That cutting remark strikes at the heart of a deeper tension between the younger generation's instinct to speak out on matters of principle and the monarchy's long-standing requirement for political neutrality. King Charles and Queen Camilla are planning a major state visit to Washington, DC, later this year to mark the United States' 250th anniversary, a high-profile occasion requiring delicate diplomatic choreography. Trump, who maintains cordial relations with the royal couple, will serve as their official host.

'Harry's comments make an already sensitive situation far trickier,' a second source said. 'The king can't clap back — even if he agrees.' This is the crux of Charles's predicament: he may sympathise with his son's defence of fallen soldiers, but he cannot say so publicly without breaching a principle that has governed the British monarchy for centuries.

Britain's relationship with the United States is the bedrock of its foreign policy, a strategic alliance that transcends any single administration or political disagreement. The king would never openly criticise America's head of state, regardless of how sharp the provocation or how unfair Harry's claims may appear. Even within the UK, the royals are required to remain politically neutral and non-partisan, with the reigning monarch holding weekly meetings with the prime minister to discuss government business.

Prince Harry's Trump History: A Festering Wound

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Harry, launching repeated attacks over the years on everything from the duke's visa status to his marriage to Meghan Markle. In February 2025, when asked whether he would deport Harry, Trump said, 'I don't want to do that,' before pivoting to another dig at the duchess. 'I'll leave him alone,' the president said dismissively. 'He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible.'

The barbs are not new. In April 2022, Trump called Harry 'whipped' during an interview with Piers Morgan. 'I won't use the full expression, but Harry is whipped like no person I think I've ever seen,' he said with characteristic bluntness. 'I'm not a fan of Meghan, I'm not a fan, and I wasn't right from the beginning. I think poor Harry is being led around by his nose.'

Harry and Meghan have made their political activism increasingly public since quitting the royal family in 2020 and relocating to California. The couple released a video message ahead of the 2020 election between Trump and Joe Biden, making thinly veiled appeals to voters to oppose the then-incumbent Republican. They described it as the 'most important election of our lifetime' and urged Americans to reject what they viewed as hate speech and misinformation.

'This election, I am not able to vote in the US. But many of you may not know that I haven't been able to vote in the UK my entire life,' Harry said in the video. 'As we approach this November, it's vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.'

Biden won the election, though Trump secured a second term in 2024 by defeating Kamala Harris. Now, with Trump back in power and more influential than ever, the president's long-standing grievances with Harry appear to be resurfacing, leaving King Charles caught in the middle.