Prince Harry slammed for using Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as 'emotional blackmail'

Now, the chance to see his grandchildren in the near future appears to be fading, as Harry stated last week that it would be “dangerous” to bring his wife and children back to the UK.

In a new documentary, Tabloids on Trial, the Duke said: “It's still dangerous. All it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read. Whether it's a knife or acid, these are things that are of genuine concern for me.

“It's one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country”, he said during the sit-down interview which aired on July 25.

A friend of the monarch has slammed the Duke for using his children as leverage to get better security whilst in the UK.

“Harry has lost his security case in court, and is now trying the emotional blackmail route to get what he wants instead, cynically using the threat of Archie and Lilibet never meeting their grandfather again as a tactic to coerce the king into overruling Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC),” the close source told The Daily Beast.

“The idea that the security forces are going to allow the Sussexes to be attacked by an acid-throwing or knife-wielding maniac on British soil is absurd, and Harry knows it. Using it as leverage, as a reason to withhold his kids from their grandfather, is beyond contempt.”

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The friend added that in light of Charles’ cancer diagnosis, the monarch cannot drop all his plans and fly to California when it suits Harry.

He added: “I wonder, when they are older, how those kids will feel about being denied a meaningful relationship with the King of England. To deprive them of that experience, with all its importance and heritage, seems very misguided. Of course he wants to see them, but if you force Charles to choose between his duty to the Crown and his personal feelings, he will choose the Crown every time—just as his mother did.”

Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, described the situation for the King as “incredibly sad”.

“It would be great to think that at some point soon the King would get to visit the grandchildren that he has seen very little of, but he is 75 and still not in the best of health,” he told the Mail on Sunday.

“A visit to America is unlikely to be a high priority now, given the other demands on his time.

“It's an incredibly sad situation that few would have predicted even five years ago.”

Meanwhile, Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, accused the royal couple earlier this month of “denying Archie and Lilibet the right to know George, Charlotte and Louis”.

The 80-year-old said he is “saddened” that Archie and Lilibet are being "denied" a royal lifestyle.