King Charles III is “likely relieved” after President Donald Trump said last week that he doesn’t plan to deport his youngest son, Prince Harry, back to Britain despite his immigration issues, an expert told Fox News Digital.
“It would put the spotlight back [on] the Sussexes,” said royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. “Harry would undoubtedly appeal. The publicity would be ceaseless.”
“Apart from the fact that the royal family is the [U.K.] government’s trump card in dealing with the most unpredictable president of them all, Harry is in self-imposed exile and the royal family have health struggles and do not trust the Sussexes,” Fitzwilliams claimed.
Fitzwilliams added that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle wouldn’t be welcomed back to Britain “where their ratings are, apart from the young, extremely bad.”
Charles “is and has always been conflict averse,” British royals expert Hillary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “Regarding his wayward son Harry, it’s far better that he remains out of sight and out of mind. [Charles] remains focused on both his cancer recovery and dedication to duty, serving his people.”
Fitzwilliams and Fordwich’s comments came after Richard Eden of the U.K.’s Daily Mail claimed that it would be “a relief” for Charles if Harry remained in California with his family. Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
On Feb. 7, Trump told the New York Post that he isn’t interested in deporting Harry, who is the subject of a legal battle over his immigration filings.
The conservative think tank Heritage Foundation filed a lawsuit last year against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They want the 40-year-old’s immigration records released after the royal admitted in his 2023 memoir “Spare” that he had used illegal drugs in the past.
“I don’t want to do that,” Trump told the New York Post on Friday after being asked if he would deport the royal. “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Fitzwilliams believes that “Trump was never likely to deport Harry, regardless of what he included on his visa application form.”
“He has other priorities and also knows it would make them popular in Hollywood, something they have otherwise failed to achieve,” he pointed out. “This would have been ironic. Now we know it won’t happen.”
Fordwich noted that the “continuity of the monarchy is of paramount concern” to Charles. She shared that it wouldn’t have been appropriate for the king, 76, to publicly comment on Harry’s visa case because he needs to “remain above politics.”
The Heritage Foundation in its lawsuit says that Harry may have lied on his immigration forms about his past drug use or was given preferential treatment by the government and called for the records to be released.
“I’ll be urging the president to release Prince Harry’s immigration records and the president does have that legal authority to do that,” Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation previously told the New York Post.
Fordwich also said that not deporting Harry is likely to be in Trump’s best interest.
“President Trump is no fool, he cherishes his relationship with the British royals and most certainly wouldn’t have spoken out of turn regarding the deportation of Harry as he’s looking forward to his next invitation to Buckingham Palace,” she explained. “Therefore, we can be assured he is in lockstep with” Charles.
Fordwich noted that although people “erroneously” believe that Trump and the environmentally focused Charles don’t have much in common, “they maintained a relationship whilst Trump was out of office.”
“[Charles] wrote privately to Trump the day after the attack following his attempted assassination, in Butler, Pennsylvania, Buckingham Palace confirmed at that time,” she said.
Fordwich added that one of the many things Charles and Trump are in agreement on is “all” that Harry and Meghan “did to hurt” Queen Elizabeth II “in her final years and, indeed, hours.”
Harry and Meghan, 43, famously left the U.K. in 2020 in what was called “Megxit” after they decided to step down as senior royals and try to become financially independent.
They eventually settled in Montecito, California.
The move has also “robbed” Charles” of his grandfather duties to Harry’s children — Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3 — and left a “huge void,” British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard claimed to Fox News Digital.
“The painful realization that King Charles has missed out on involvement and connecting with his sweet American grandchildren, especially during their formative years, has left a huge void,” she said.
“Although King Charles would love a relationship with his son and grandchildren, he realizes there is so much water under the bridge and, despite years passing, I’ve heard there is still tremendous animosity and upset that hasn’t been resolved.”
Chard added that while Charles is “far more forgiving,” Prince William “cannot forgive and forget the hurt brought on his family by the Sussexes,” and “Harry doesn’t feel the need to build bridges.”
“King Charles has little stamina to fight his sons’ battles,” she claimed. “Peace and calm is essential as he serves as head of state and focuses on his cancer treatment. The working royal family are a priority.”
Chard said that while Charles “wishes his son and family well,” after they left their roles as senior royals, “it’s easier with the Sussexes living far away as celebrities.”
“Both Prince Harry and Meghan are self-serving disrupters and this puts a spanner in the works for Team Royal,” she claimed.
“Perhaps in years to come when all legal cases are finalized, bridges built, trust earned and the negative spotlight is off of the Sussexes, family healing will materialize.”
