King Charles has offered an olive branch to Prince Harry by posting a photo with both his sons in a Father’s Day tribute.
The monarch shared a collection of photos on Twitter today, including one taken on the Balmoral estate in Scotland in 1997 when Prince William was 14 and Harry was 12.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams has claimed the photo aims to ‘evoke bittersweet memories’ and is the King’s way of ‘sending a sensitive message’ to Harry about loyalty.
Charles is also ‘reminding’ William how ‘very different’ the relationship between the brothers once was and that they all used to share ‘precious family moments’, Mr Fitzwilliams told The Sun.
The tribute comes just days after it was confirmed that Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season. The streaming giant and the Sussexes released a joint statement saying they have ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’.
But Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, condemned the pair in an episode of his own podcast on Friday.
‘The f***ing grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.’
King Charles has offered an olive branch to Prince Harry by posting a photo with both his sons in a Father’s Day tribute. The photo was taken on the Balmoral estate in Scotland in 1997 when Prince William was 14 and Harry was 12
The heartfelt tribute comes just days after it was confirmed that Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season. The streaming giant and the Sussexes (pictured together in 2021) released a joint statement saying they have ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’
The move to ditch the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which explores the ‘labels that try to hold women back’, follows discussions months ago about renewing it for a second series
Mr Fitzwilliams says the Balmoral photo depicts happier times between the King and his sons and was meant to send Harry a message.
He claims the photo appeared to show Harry making a discovery that both Charles and William were ‘intrigued by.’
He claimed the snapshot captured an ‘enchanting and innocent moment’ shared by the trio on the countryside estate.
‘King Charles is surely sending a sensitive message to his wayward son about what really matters and where his real loyalties should lie,’ Mr Fitzwilliams said of the post.
‘He is also reminding William on this very special day of how very different things once were between him and Harry. They too, once shared precious family moments! Could they again?’
There have been several issues between the Sussexes and the royals in recent years.
Harry and the King are understood to barely be on speaking terms after the Duke repeatedly criticised his family in a series of televised interviews and his memoir, Spare.
Charles and Harry did reportedly communicate ahead of the Coronation last month.
Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season
Archetypes launched in August last year, exploring the ‘labels that try to hold women back’. The Duke and Duchess reportedly signed the deal for $20million but will not receive the full payout as it did not reach the productivity benchmark
Since officially leaving the Royal Family and moving to California in 2020, the Harry and Meghan have pursued a number of different avenues to bring in revenue.
This includes Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare which he created as part of a reported £15million ($20million) deal with Penguin Books.
The couple also teamed up with Netflix to produce the docu-series called Harry And Meghan, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair roughly £77million ($100million) for the six-episode series.
The Sussexes reportedly signed a £15million ($20million) deal with Spotify for Meghan’s Archetypes project in late 2020 but insiders close to the audio giant claim the couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout.
The move to ditch the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which explores the ‘labels that try to hold women back’, follows discussions months ago about renewing it for a second series, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
The determined Duchess, however, is still planning to create more podcasts and find a new home for her series, that has previously featured her friend and tennis star Serena Williams, pop sensation Mariah Carey and South African comedian Trevor Noah.
The axing of the show comes after sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the pair would stop making tell-all Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and sitting down for interviews that bash the Royal Family, as they have ‘nothing left to say’.
Spotify was said to have carried out conversations for a second series of Archetypes last year following the end of the first season, but talks later stalled.
It comes amid reports that the couple will stop making documentaries and tell-all books as they have ‘nothing left to say’
After their lucrative deal with Spotify was cancelled last week Harry and Meghan may also be about to lose their partnership with Netflix, according to Hollywood insiders.
Despite the popularity of their six-part documentary series, the streaming giant is said to be conducting an ‘ongoing review’ into their deal, which is reportedly worth around £80million.
However, the Duchess of Sussex has already lined up a new multi-million-pound deal to become the face of fashion house Dior, according to sources in the US.
‘Meghan is all anyone is talking about,’ a prominent Beverly Hills socialite said.
‘There have been rumours for weeks that she’s about to sign a deal with Dior – if she pulls that off, then no one will remember that her silly little podcast got cancelled after one season.’
The duchess has been a fan of Dior for some time and wore an all-white outfit by the designer for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee service last year.
Meghan signed off her 12th episode in the Archetypes podcast series with a defiant piece of poetry about survival
A deal with the brand could also catapult Meghan’s value as an influencer and earn her huge sums for each social media post.
Nick Ede, a brand and culture expert, said the duchess ‘could command millions’ by becoming the face of Dior.
Meghan is also said to have befriended US entrepreneur Victoria Jackson, whose husband Bill Guthy’s marketing agency promotes the beauty lines of Jennifer Lopez and Cindy Crawford.
MailOnline has approached representatives for the Royal Family and the Sussexes for comment.
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