King Charles and Prince Harry's ever-distant relationship is "always in the back" of the monarch's mind, a royal biographer has claimed.
As the King celebrates his 76th birthday, his bond with California-bound son Prince Harry remains frosty, with the duke so far having failed to share a birthday message for his father on social media.
The King will be honoured today with a special gun salute, taking place in Green Park and the Tower of London to mark the occasion.
Speaking to GB News, royal biographer Robert Hardman claimed that although the King is "much happier" since ascending the throne, his relationship with Harry is "in the back of his mind".
King Charles has 'very sound reasons' for his distance from Prince Harry, Hardman has claimed
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Hardman explained: "I think most people, and particularly now in their late 70s, they'd be wanting to kind of sort out any loose ends.
"But it's different when you're a monarch. So in a sense, he's got so much going on that he has these distractions. But of course, in the back of his mind is the fact that his beloved younger son is thousands of miles away with grandchildren who he's hardly ever seen."
Analysing the relationship between Charles and Harry, Hardman suggested that there are "very sound reasons" as to why the King has remained distant from his son.
Hardman told GB News: "It's not because there's a there's some great sort of Arctic freeze. There are very sound reasons why there is a distance at the moment.
King Charles is treating his birthday as a normal working day and will carry out royal duties on Thursday.Getty"it could change, it could all change. But for now, he's got cancer, and everyone's trying to keep his stress levels down."
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Defending the King's decision, Hardman noted that the Duke "clearly has a lot to unpack", but the royals "don't need to have the conversation now".
Hardman said: "Harry is clearly got a lot to unpack, and a lot he wants to discuss. So the decision for now is just, let's not have that conversation right now. The king doesn't need it.
"There's also the issue of what does William think about it, because any solution has to be three way solution."
Outlining the "main problem" for Prince Harry in his bid to make amends with the Royal Family, Hardman told GB News that because he is "suing the government and the king's ministers", he will struggle to reconcile.
Hardman told GB News that Charles is 'much happier' since becoming King
GB News
Hardman stated: "The main problem for Harry is he's suing the government. He's suing the king's ministers in the king's courts.
"And you can't have in any way the king being drawn into that discussion, because that would be what's called legal jeopardy."
When asked to analyse how he believes King Charles is doing in his role as monarch, Hardman claimed that despite his "bleak" cancer diagnosis, Charles is "much happier" since being crowned.
Hardman concluded: "He's thoroughly enjoying being monarch. He's obviously had a dreadful year, after that very bleak diagnosis he had, but things are definitely on an upward trajectory.
"He's actually much happier since becoming King. One of his close friends said to me, there's a new kind of serenity about him since he's become king, because he no longer has to ask people if he can do things, he's in charge."
