In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry recounted taking a trip to Scotland with Meghan Markle shortly after they married to spend time with his dad King Charles, who found out a surprising fact about his daughter-in-law

Prince Harry’s relationship with his father appears to be a breaking point – but that wasn’t always the case.

Before the Sussexes decided to dramatically quit royal life for the United States, Harry still had a close bond with his father King Charles, who was also impressed by his daughter-in-law Megha n. It seems that the King and the Duchess of Sussex initially discovered they had much in common and developed a blossoming friendship.

And it led to Charles being stunned when he uncovered a surprise fact about his daughter-in-law during a Scottish getaway not long after Harry and Meghan tied the knot. In his controversial memoir Spare, Harry recalled that in the summer of 2018, he and Meghan headed to the Castle of Mey to spend time with Charles.

Meghan Markle’s birthday is August – the same as the late Queen Mother’s

He writes that it was during this trip, that Charles and Meghan’s bond grew stronger, especially after one particular moment. Harry said: “One night, over pre-dinner cocktails, Fred Astaire playing in the background, it emerged that Meg shared a birthdate with Pa’s favourite person: Gan-Gan [the Queen Mother]. August 4. ‘Amazing’, Pa said with a smile.

“At the memory of Gan-Gan, and the link between her and my bride, he suddenly became buoyant, telling stories I’d never heard, essentially performing, showing off for Meg.”

But since that trip six years ago, relations between father and son have deteriorated significantly – especially in the wake of Harry and Meghan’s tell-all Netflix series and the release of Spare, where Harry criticised his father and brother Prince William.

And last week, a source claimed Harry and Charles no longer speaking with one long-running issue seeing their estrangement deepen. It had been hoped that father and son were on the road to begin repairing their rift, especially after they met when Harry dashed to the UK after it was announced that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer.

However, weeks later when the Duke of Sussex returned to the UK for a 10th anniversary service for the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral, there was no meeting between the pair. Now sources close to the Sussexes have now claimed that Harry’s calls to his dad are going unanswered as Harry tries to discuss his security arrangements with his father. The Duke has been embroiled in a long-running battle over his security when he comes to the UK after he automatically lost the right to his police protection when he stepped down as a working royal.

The Queen Mother with King Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry on her 100th birthday in 2001

He has lost his subsequent court battles to have it reinstated for him, wife Meghan and their two children and is planning an appeal. According toPEOPLE magazine, Harry believes his dad could help to have this reinstated, although this has been dismissed as “wholly inaccurate” by a palace source.

And now a friend of Harry’s told the magazine: “He gets ‘unavailable right now’. His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.” While another friend added: “Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father,” while another source added: “Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs.”

They added that the couple “didn’t feel they had a choice”. “The only option was to leave – for their sanity. I do think they thought if they got out of this bubble, there would be less focus on them,” the insider said.

Harry took legal action over the February 2020 decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) which ruled he would no longer be given the “same degree” of publicly-funded protection when in the country. Ravec’s decision came as a result of a change in the duke’s ‘status’ after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the royal family “, a judge was told.

In February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case that he was “singled out” and treated “less favourably” by the decision and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. After the ruling, a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement that the Duke “hopes to obtain justice from the Court of Appeal”.

During a hearing at the High Court, it was told that Harry believes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot “feel at home” in the UK if it is “not possible to keep them safe” there. At a previous hearing in the case, in a written statement, Harry said: “It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. The UK is my home.

“The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home, as much as where they live at the moment in the United States. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”