Every summer, the Prince and Princess of Wales disappear for months, and every summer, the British tabloids churn through several royal storylines in their absence. One of this summer’s storylines is clearly “Prince William is incandescent with rage over King Charles seeing Prince Harry twice in the past year.” Even worse, Charles apparently plans to offer palace accommodation to Harry next month, when Harry visits. Royal commentators and royal sources are definitely making it sound like this is William’s Hot Bald Seething Summer. Not only that, but William and Charles are barely speaking? Which is presented as new information, but they’ve never been particularly close, even before all of this recent Harry stuff. Some highlights from a Closer story getting a lot of attention:

Harry’s September visit: Harry is set to stay at Buckingham Palace when he jets over to the UK again next month, and William is apparently flabbergasted that Charles is ready to welcome him with open arms. He feels that, once again, Harry is eclipsing important royal business, with talks about abdication sailing out the window. William, we hear, has appealed to his father repeatedly to remain on track with their plans and stop kowtowing to Harry, but as both men are notoriously hot-headed, it descends into furious rows.

Daddy won’t listen to Willy!! Our source says: “William says any advice he gives his father is met with indifference or even outright anger. What’s really hurtful is that it seemed like they were busy preparing him to take over, everyone was talking about a potential abdication and now he’s suddenly been pushed to the side while Charles rolls out the red carpet for Harry any chance he gets.”

The Highgrove meeting with the Sussexes: Our insider tells us, “William thinks it’s lunacy and an act of blatant disservice to the Crown. He resents the fact that this whole saga with the Sussexes is getting so much airtime that’s distracting the whole family from way more important matters and creating this deepening divide within the household. He can scarcely believe that a number of key aides are now openly changing their stance towards the Sussexes and [these staffers are] imploring other members of the Firm that His Majesty’s wishes and actions must be respected, which means turning the other cheek [with Harry and Meghan] and wiping the slate clean.”

William certainly hopes someone else cleans up this mess! Says our source: “It’s bewildering and enraging all at the same time, but William says he’s past trying to understand it. He’s still hoping somebody else can talk sense into his father, but he’s not counting on it, and he’s through wasting his breath. His attitude now is that if Charles wants to have this relationship with Harry so badly, then he should have at it, and let William get on with the business of ruling the Crown because, clearly, Charles is at a point in his life where he’s more focused on sentimental matters than practicalities.”

Why won’t anyone listen to Willy?? “For William it’s like a bad dream to see the King making these dreadful decisions, and the fact that he carries such little influence, despite being second in line to the throne, is infuriating. He still loves his father deeply, that will never change, but there’s no question that a lot of respect has been lost. So, at this point he’s trying to bite his lip and avoid negative discussions, which means keeping more of a distance, at least whilst he bides his time and sees how this all plays out with the Sussexes.”

Father & heir are barely speaking: The son and father cannot afford to completely freeze each other; they are embroiled in steering the day-to-day of the Royal ship together: “He and Charles are still obligated to keep one another apprised about various decisions and day-to-day duties that affect the bigger picture of the monarchy. So of course, they’ll maintain a cordial relationship and project a sense of togetherness, when necessary, but most of the communication is being done through aides at this point because they’re keen to avoid each other where possible while things are so awkward.”

Charles’ perspective is that William sucks: Charles, however, appears unmoved by William’s objections: “It’s upsetting and exasperating for Charles, but he’s made his position abundantly clear and no amount of foot stamping or complaining from William will make any difference. He’s actually telling people that it’s strengthened his resolve to stay on as King for as long as possible, because he worries that William is too hot-tempered and impulsive to rule the Crown, and that he has a lot of growing up to do in the coming years. Of course, that assessment will have made its way back to William and it’s only served to make him feel more irritated and undermined.”

[From Closer]

Y’all might say “oh, we’re believing Closer now?” I believe stories when the gossip is believable, given the evidence we’ve compiled for years. It’s absolutely clear that Charles continues to meet with Harry even though William is throwing furious tantrums behind-the-scenes. It’s clear that William has had a half-dozen breakdowns over these Charles-Harry meetings. It’s clear that Charles is mostly ignoring his unhinged heir. The last part is pretty obvious too – Charles was always going to cling to the throne with both hands. He was never going to abdicate. And Charles absolutely knows that William is nowhere near ready. Anyway, William’s tantrums will get so much louder next month, all around Harry’s visit.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.