Prince Harry has offered a short but potentially significant update on his father King Charles’ health as the monarch continues his cancer treatment.
Harry and his family, including his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, made headlines in August when they reportedly relocated from Montecito, California, to the UK.
In a new interview with GQ, released following the launch of a MasterClass course about grief, Harry reflected on losing his mother, the late Princess Diana, when he was just 12 years old. He also spoke about how he is coping with his father’s ongoing health challenges.
King Charles, 77, was diagnosed with cancer in February 2024. Although the specific type of cancer has not been publicly disclosed, the palace previously stated that the monarch was responding well to treatment and would move into a precautionary phase of care.
During the interview, GQ journalist Zach Baron told Harry that his own father had been diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years earlier. Baron explained that although his father was doing well, he had been experiencing what he described as “almost a kind of anticipatory grief.”
Baron then asked whether Harry had experienced similar emotions while dealing with his father’s illness. Harry responded: “Yes, I have. And I think that that is perhaps helpful.”
“It’s the one thing that we are all going to experience, which is the loss of a parent, both parents, and the loss of friends. That’s universal.”
The conversation then turned to whether losing his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997 had made his father’s cancer diagnosis and treatment particularly difficult for him.
Harry appeared to offer an update on Charles’ condition, saying: “Yes, but he’s getting better.”
He went on to explain that losing one parent feels different from losing both. He recalled hearing friends who had lost both parents describe themselves as orphans, even when they were already in their forties or fifties.
“I’d never heard someone say that to me before. I was like, ‘Wow, I hadn’t considered that.’”
Harry also reflected on a question he had considered since childhood: whether it would be easier to lose a parent suddenly, without preparation, or to experience a prolonged illness that provides an opportunity to say goodbye.
“And it turns out that there is no answer because I’ve got friends and family who are suffering from cancer.”
He then spoke about losing his mother at such a young age and one of his greatest personal regrets.
“I’ve had a mom that was taken away from me too soon, and I have spoken very openly about one of my biggest regrets is that last phone call I had with her.”
Harry explained that knowing it would be his final conversation with Diana would have changed the way he spoke to her.
“If I’d known it was the last call with her, how different that conversation would’ve been. And I’m the one that has to live with that. And the fact that as a 12-year-old kid, all I wanted to do was go off and run and play with my cousins.”
During the same interview, Harry also expressed his wish to repair his strained relationships with his father and his brother, Prince William.
“Some people don’t want it to work out,” Harry said. “I want it to work out. With everything else that’s going on in the world, the most important thing is to reconcile. That’s the key point.”
Unsurprisingly, his reference to “some people” prompted speculation in the media that he might have been criticizing members of the Royal Family. However, a spokesperson for Harry later clarified that the remark was “absolutely not intended as a swipe at his brother or any other member of his family.”
