Prince Charles finds Harry and Meghan’s jibes ‘painful’ and is ‘bewildered’ by their behaviour

Prince Charles finds Harry and Meghan’s jibes at the royal family ‘painful’ and is ‘completely bewildered’ by their behaviour, insiders claim.

People close to the royals have hit back at the ‘tragic and delusional’ couple’s sniping, and say it has taken a ‘toll’ on the Queen over the last couple of years.

Those who know the Prince of Wales say he has been wounded by the words and actions of the his son and daughter-in-law, who have repeatedly criticised the royal family.

Tensions were raised further last week after an interview which saw Meghan suggest the Sussexes had been forced to move across the Atlantic because ‘by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’.

Speaking to US magazine The Cut, she also claimed her husband had ‘lost’ his father, with sources close to the couple saying this wasn’t a reference to Prince Charles, but her estrangement with her own father. 

It is said the future king is particularly hurt after spending time with Harry, Meghan and his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, during the Platinum Jubilee in June.

Charles is thought to have seen their time together as a ‘minor act of reparation’ after the Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 which saw Harry say he felt ‘really let down’ by his father.

In a recent interview with The Cut, Meghan said her husband had ‘lost’ his father during their controversial move to the US. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the Annual Salute to Freedom Gala in New York in November last year

One friend told the Sunday Times that the Prince continues to be hurt by the public proclamations not only about the royal family, but about himself personally.  

The friend says: ‘For two years, there has been a steady stream of really challenging things said about a man who cannot [publicly] defend himself by a couple he obviously loves and misses. 

‘That is incredibly difficult on a personal level. He is completely bewildered by why his son, whom he loves deeply, feels this is the way to go about managing family relationships.’

Sources close to Prince William say he is less concerned by the jibes than his father, with one saying: ‘he’s not really spending much time thinking about it’.

However, Harry’s memoirs, which are set to be released at an unspecified date, could ratchet tensions up further and the Duke of Cambridge is not thought to be relishing its publication.

It comes after a new rift was opened between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family following Meghan’s interview with The Cut last week.

Coinciding with the launch of her new Spotify podcast, the Duchess of Sussex claimed she had been compared to South African hero Nelson Mandela and claimed Harry had ‘lost’ his father Charles during Megxit.

In her wide-ranging interview with The Cut, running to more than 6,000 words, Meghan said that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’ before they stepped down as senior working royals.

She also she said it takes ‘a lot of effort’ to forgive and hinted that she can ‘say anything’ after not signing any confidentiality agreements with the royals.

Sources in royal circles have since hit back at the couple, branding their tirades against life as working royals ‘delusional’ and ‘tragic’ – and sensationally suggesting that they ‘rail against the system as much as they still do’ even after Megxit to sustain public and therefore commercial interest in their ‘brand’.

The festering Transatlantic ‘cold war’ between the Windsors and the Sussexes turned hot today after furious Palace insiders accused ‘delusional’ Harry and Meghan (pictured in 2017) of attacking the institution of the monarchy ‘because it is good for business’

Sources claimed that the Queen (pictured in June), who is now 96 and has pulled out of a string of public events in recent months amid ongoing fears for her health, does not ‘want to be on tenterhooks’ and constantly waiting for the ‘next nuclear bomb’

The couple’s actions also seemingly contradict the public statement they released in January 2020, after reaching a deal with the Queen to leave the royal life, in which they pledged that ‘everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty’.

At the so-called ‘Sandringham Summit’, Harry gave up his military appointments and their public funding was halted, allowing them go to the United States where they have signed multi-million pound deals with the likes of Spotify and Netflix.

Regardless, the Queen has repeatedly said the Sussexes remain ‘much-loved’ by the royal family.

But one source told the Sunday Times: ‘It is hard to see how what they’re doing would equate to the values of the Queen, who has never encouraged people to discuss deeply personal family relationships in public.’

Another claimed Her Majesty, who is now 96 and has pulled out of a string of public events in recent months amid ongoing fears for her health, does not ‘want to be on tenterhooks’ and constantly waiting for the ‘next nuclear bomb’.

Her communications staff declined to comment when Mail Online asked about the remarks of the palace insiders. A spokesperson for the Sussexes did not immediately respond to an enquiry. 

The Duchess of Sussex gave a bombshell interview to The Cut – part of New York magazine

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pictured with Archie and Lilibet in a Christmas card released on December 23, 2021

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have arrived back in the UK already, for the first time since returning for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

It was reported last night that the couple had already touched down on UK soil on Saturday morning, with Hello! magazine claiming they had flown commercial and appeared to be without their children Archie and Lilibet.

Harry and Meghan will attend a youth summit in Manchester tomorrow and the WellChild awards in London on Thursday, before jetting off to Germany to mark the one year countdown to the Invictus Games.

There are ‘no plans’ for them to meet with Prince William and his wife, Kate, despite staying just a few hundred feet away from them.

They had been expected to arrive as soon as Saturday and and use their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, as a base, but their arrival date and time had not been confirmed.

The Sunday Times reports it they are unlikely to visit the Queen in Balmoral, where one source says Her Majesty has had ‘a busy summer with lots of visitors and has been out picnicking’.

Following the breakdown of relationships between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family, it is understood that there are ‘no plans’ for them to make the short 380ft trip to Adelaide Cottage for the brothers to reunite.

Royal sources suggest there are fears the couple may bring a film crew along to the UK as part of their rumoured $100million Netflix deal.

‘Trust, particularly at the moment, is a big issue,’ a well-placed source said.