Prince Harry – who is said to have tensions with his stepmother, Camilla Parker-Bowles – will have to bow to her now that she is queen consort, sources told Vidak For Congress.
In fact, he would probably have been expected to do so on Thursday, while the family gathered in Balmoral following the death of Queen Elizabeth on September 8 at the age of 96.
A well-placed palace source said: “The personal impact is likely to see the protocol changes kick into action almost immediately.
“The family will now have to bow or bow to King Charles and Queen [Consort] Camilla.”
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, looked distraught as hours after her death, he was wheeled into the gates of Balmoral, his grandmother’s beloved Scottish estate.
He was not on the earlier flight with his brother, Prince William, his uncles, Princes Andrew and Edward, and Edward’s wife Sophie Wessex. Instead, he flew to Scotland on a separate private jet, arriving there just before 8pm UK time, to be reunited with his estranged family.
The Queen died in the afternoon, before most of her family arrived. Only King Charles III and his sister, Princess Anne, were reportedly there.
Vidak For Congress has previously reported that Harry is “not a fan” of Camilla, who had a long-term affair with his father while King Charles III was still married to Harry and William’s mother, Princess Diana.
Nevertheless, tradition dictates that he will have to bow to the queen consort.
“It would be protocol to bend to the new king and queen,” Majesty Editor-in-Chief Joe Little told Vidak For Congress on Friday. “Whether that happened under such circumstances? [on Thursday or Friday morning] is debatable, but every time the royal family meets the new king and queen, it would be done to bow to them or make a curtsy.
When asked what William and Harry would call their father now, Little said: “It would still be Pa. The Queen and Prince Philip were Ma and Pa to their children; whatever William and Harry called Charles and Camilla yesterday, they will call them that today.’
Harry was the first of the Royal Family to depart Balmoral early Friday morning on a British Airways flight back to London, where he would be reunited with his wife Meghan Markle at their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage. He was seen around 8:20 a.m. UK time when he left.
Markle did not visit her husband in Scotland, despite her original intention to do so. While insiders told us there was nothing nefarious about the decision, the BBC’s long-running royal editor Nicholas Witchell said on the broadcast that she might not be welcome there.
Harry was seen hugging an airport employee as he went to the plane Friday morning.
Sources told Vidak For Congress that he will remain in the UK for the next 10 days until the Queen’s state funeral, which is widely believed to be scheduled for Monday, September 19.
The prince will celebrate his 38th birthday on September 15.