8 Reasons Why Prince Charles Was Wrong To Cut Harry Off Financially

Millions from across the world watched and reacted in disbelief when Prince Harry mentioned that he had been cut off financially by his father since he decided to step down as a senior member of the royal family.

These among other challenging situations such as his phone calls not being picked, his son Archie not receiving royal protection and conversations about what the colour of his skin would look like once born were also revealed in the bombshell interview he did alongside his wife Meghan.

Every family faces its own challenges. The royal family even with all their wealth, power and influence are not excluded from this it seems.

Navigating through challenges in a healthy manner is one of the deliberate habits that help keep family bonds strong. Dealing with problems in an unhealthy way is one core reason that leads to breakages of relationships in families.

Prince Harry decided to step down from his duties as a senior royal based on the challenges he faced particularly from the negative media coverage on his wife and from the lack of the Crown’s support in dealing with it. When he also decided to move from his home to a foreign land to care for his mental health and general well being of himself and his young family and fearing that his fate would end up like that of his mother Princess Diana, his father cut him off financially.

Prince Charles and his advisors may give reasons that they may find justifiable for this action. But cutting Prince Harry off financially was wrong for several reasons.

He too inherited his wealth and income

Prince Charles’ wealth and income come from the Sovereign Grant and the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Duchy of Cornwall which provides the majority of his income is a private estate consisting of vast land and real estate that is currently valued at nearly $1.3 billion. It brought in $50 million in 2020.

This estate was founded by Edward III in the 14th century and has been passed down generations. Its income helps fund the activities of the heir apparent of the British monarch and his family. The Duchy had been funding Prince Harry’s activities as a senior royal.

Even though the funds from the Duchy of Cornwall are intended to fund the activities of senior royals in service to their country, it seemed odd that helping a member of the family transition through as he searched his path was out of the confines of what the funds could be used to do.

If Prince Charles was a self-made billionaire who had worked his ass off and built his wealth from scratch, it would have had some justification in his decision to cut his son off financially. But Prince Charles inherited this wealth from those before him. Even though he has played a tremendous role in keeping it running and profitable over the decades, he does not have the full moral rights to decide to cut Harry off since he himself received it as an inheritance that is meant to support the lineage in perpetuity.

By virtue of being a blood family member of the lineage, Prince Harry has a birthright to enjoy income from the Duchy. Until Prince Charles assumes the throne and Prince William assumes the title of Duke of Cornwall, Prince Harry holds the right from a moral perspective to receive income from this estate.

After all, he had been receiving it before. Did stepping back from his royal duties make him less worthy of generational support?

Even though he stepped back from official duties, he did not step back from his role as a person that would influence the causes he cared about. He did not quit being a blood member of the royal family. His actions also did not exclude him from receiving the positive or negative attention derived from his parentage and for these reasons, he deserved to receive the financial support to help him navigate through.

Financial control

By cutting his son off financially, Prince Charles was exercising financial control over his son.

Prince Charles might have imagined that Harry and his young family would find some trouble navigating through their new life away from the royals. By cutting his sources of funding, he probably hoped that it would deter his son from proceeding with his plans of seeking his independence.

Exercising financial control over someone who depends on you in this way is manipulation and is a form of abuse. And by cutting his son off, Prince Charles was being a manipulative and toxic parent.

Parental love has its limits?

Parents are supposed to help provide for their children’s mental emotional and financial needs no matter what.

Prince Harry is an adult who can provide for himself financially. As a royal, he had been socialised to be dependent on the family’s income and wealth to fund his activities before he decided to step down as a senior royal and to find alternative sources of income.

By cutting Harry off financially, Prince Charles was sending the message that his love for his son and the portrayal of it has limits.

His actions showed that he would only support his son and his endeavours only when Harry was doing what he and the family approved of.

As a parent, you are supposed to show your child love and support healthily even when you do not necessarily understand them or their actions as long as those actions do not harm others or break the law. Prince Charles failed here.

Charity begins at home

Prince Charles uses some of his income from the Duchy of Cornwall to fund his various charities. I understand and commend his altruism, but what cause could be more important than the well being of his own son?

The irony is that $4.4 million of the Duchy’s income in 2020 was channelled to charitable activities. One of them being The Prince’s Trust, which is a charity that helps unemployed youth.

Well, the Prince’s son had just gotten unemployed. That charity should have started at home.

He abandoned his son at his hour of most need

I can imagine how scared Prince Harry was when he decided to step down from his royal duties. I can only imagine how worried he was when he decided to step with both feet into the unknown without the support of his family and the support of most of the people he had been serving for decades.

I wouldn’t even want to be in his position as I know how hard this can be especially for a person of his stature who had to go through all these in front of the whole world. It's difficult to even attempt to comprehend the state of his mental health at that point and since.

He was vulnerable and hurting, and by cutting him off financially, Prince Charles abandoned his son at the point in which he needed him the most.

He might not have supported his son’s decision to step down from his royal duties, he might not have understood it even, but he should have helped him transition smoothly and then figure out everything else later.

The truth is he could. He could afford to help his son financially but he chose not to and that was being a none nurturing parent.

After living a life of privilege where most of his needs were taken care of, Prince Harry needed his father the most at this point in his life. He didn’t need the Prince or the future King of England. He needed his father and his father blatantly refused to be there for him. By doing so, Prince Charles failed miserably at his role.

He put money over his son’s well being

By cutting Harry off, Prince Charles left him susceptible to harm. As a royal, whether he is a core and active member of The Firm or not, he attracts a lot of public attention some of which may come with negative repercussions such as bodily harm to him and his young family.

By withholding funds from him, Prince Charles put money over the general well being of his son. His actions showed that to him, money was more valuable than the safety and security of his son and vulnerable grandchild.

By cutting off communication and his financial upkeep, he showed that he was willing and was prepared to lose his son, but he was not willing to lose the money.

Repeat of history

Prince Charles treated his son Harry as coldly as he treated his mother, Princess Diana.

He was an unsupportive husband who also cheated on her which led to the breakage of their marriage.

He also did not support her with the mental health issues she faced such as postpartum depression and her fight with bulimia and self-harm.

His actions to his son display that Prince Charles didn’t learn from the mistakes he made in his relationship with Princess Diana.

He showed his true colours as a parent and a person

From his actions, it is clear that the Prince choose the monarch and its reputation over the well being of his own son.

He lacked the compassion to balance his role as a public figure and his role as a father to his son.

He also showed a lack of moral compass that would help guide him in making the best decision in a tough situation.

A loving and great parent would have chosen to ease their child’s burdens and then deal with everything else later on.

Cutting his son off was cold and uncalled for. He chose ego over his responsibilities as a father. Compassion should have guided him on the way forward.

As a father and leader who has millions of people looking up to him for guidance and morality, he failed miserably at setting a good example.

What would have been the best way for him to deal with this?

It would have been fair and morally right that Prince Charles and his advisers provide Prince Harry with the funds necessary to make the transition into his new life.

As a person that had been socialised into a life of privilege and one that needed protection his entire life, furnishing him with funds even though limited to help with security for his young family would have been the best way to go about it.

Also, providing him with limited funds for a limited period in his transition and as he gained balance into his new life would have been a healthy way to go about it.

By refusing to have a sensible dialogue on the matter, Prince Charles was being toxic. It must have left his son vulnerable and confused. Clearly communicating all these would also have come in handy instead of refusing to pick Harry’s phone calls.

As a person set to inherit billions since birth, Prince Charles might have lacked the true experience of what it is like to earn a living and to build wealth through a person’s individual efforts and performance. He also has no idea what’s it’s like to navigate through the real world without royal protection and back up. And that is why he might have found it so easy to abandon his son to deal with it on his own.

A parent who knows what it’s really like and had the means to do so would have done anything in their power to be there for their child no matter what.

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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have since landed various income-generating deals that will help them provide for themselves and their children in their new lives. They shall also continue to push for the causes they have been working on such as mental health.

The inheritance he received from his mother Princess Diana has also come in very handy during these tough times. God bless her soul as she watches over her son even in death. She was a wise and thoughtful human being and the angel we always knew. His father who is alive and well would rather sit and watch his son suffer.

Even though the couple may enjoy the privilege that most of us will never enjoy, as people that have experienced poor mental health, toxic parenting, discrimination and racism, financial insecurity and all that comes with it among other issues, we can identify with them in one way or another.

And for this reason, we shall be there to support them in their new adventures.