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<\/p>\nRelations between Prince Harry and his father are clearly worse than ever, says Daily Mail Diary Editor, Richard Eden.<\/p>\n
So, Prince Charles could hardly be blamed for not wanting his younger son at his 75th birthday celebrations on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Palace has announced that close family will get together in the evening after a day spent promoting the King\u2019s campaign to prevent food waste.<\/p>\n
However, it seems that neither the Duke nor the Duchess of Sussex will be among the guests.<\/p>\n
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A family united, with Harry and Meghan on the stage for a celebration of King Charles’s 70th birthday in 2018<\/p>\n
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The Sussexes had delayed their honeymoon so that they could attend Prince Charles’s 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration at Buckingham Palace<\/p>\n
\u2018The presence of Harry and Meghan at any family gathering now would make it feel like more of a funeral than a celebration,\u2019 writes Eden, in the latest edition of his Palace Confidential newsletter.<\/p>\n
Things were very different in 2018 when, as Eden points out, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle delayed their honeymoon as a mark of respect.<\/p>\n
That decision had allowed them attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in honour of the then Prince of Wales\u2019s 70th birthday and the charities and patronages to which he\u2019d dedicated his adult life.<\/p>\n
\u2018Their delay was seen as a gesture of thanks by Meghan to her new father-in-law, who walked her up the aisle at St George\u2019s Chapel, in the absence of her own father, Thomas Markle,\u2019 writes Eden.<\/p>\n
\u2018When King Charles turns 75 next Tuesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will, however, be 5,000 miles away in California, and his milestone birthday has already been the subject of a public row.<\/p>\n
\u2018This week, a spokesman for Harry and Meghan made a point of denying a line buried in a Sunday Times story that he had been invited to a party to celebrate his father\u2019s birthday and that he had rejected the invitation.<\/p>\n
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Pictured on the balcony after Trooping the Colour in 2018. Charles and younger son Harry had been close<\/p>\n
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A troubled Harry attends the State funeral of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II<\/p>\n
\u2018The couple had had \u2018no contact\u2019 from Buckingham Palace about an invitation, their spokesman insisted.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s clear is that relations between the King and his younger son are worse than ever.<\/p>\n
\u2018Harry feels no need to try to mend fences with his father, while the King does not want to be with him on his birthday.<\/p>\n
\u2018Frankly, who can blame him? The presence of Harry and Meghan at any family gathering now would make it feel like more of a funeral than a celebration.\u2019<\/p>\n
To read more of Richard’s expert Royal commentary, click here<\/p>\n