'Dad never forgot I was afraid of the dark': Harry unravels the threads of his complex relationship with Charles

The father-son relationship is never a long calm river.

Not even within the walls of Saint James's Palace, which long housed Charles and his two sons in the heart of London.

And in his memoirs,

(

, in French), published this Tuesday, January 10, Prince Harry unpacks everything: his childhood, the trauma linked to the death of his mother Diana, his first sexual intercourse … In short, nothing is not ignored, and especially not the links he has with his father, today on the throne of England.

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father in spite of himself

Harry first talks about a rather incompetent father.

“He gave the impression that he was never quite ready to become a father – the responsibilities, the patience, the availability,” writes the prince, now exiled in California.

“He himself, despite his particularly developed self-esteem, would have recognized it.

But single father?

Dad was not cut out for such a role.

He stayed by my bedside caressing my face

prince harry

However, at the time, Charles did not lack goodwill.

Every night at bedtime, for example, the then Prince of Wales tucks Harry in, he who is so scared when the light goes out.

“To his credit, he was doing his best,” Harry points out in his writings.

Then to describe: “In the evening, I shouted from the top of the stairs: “I am going to bed, Dad!”

He always answered cheerfully: "I'm coming right away, my dear child!"

And, true to his word, a few minutes later he was sitting on the edge of my bed.

He never forgot that I was afraid of the dark and stayed by my bedside stroking my face until I fell asleep.

It's one of my fondest memories - his hands on my cheeks, my forehead, and seeing when I opened my eyes that he didn't

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letters on the pillow

Outside of these “fleeting” special moments, Charles is said to be a little present and awkward, having trouble expressing his love to his children, according to Harry.

Blame it, no doubt, on the harsh education he himself received.

To sum up their relationship, his son even speaks of “a kind of cohabitation”.

“Dad found it difficult to communicate, to listen, to share a moment of intimacy alone,” he recalls.

However, because he does not know how to go about it and what words to address to his sons, Charles takes refuge in writing.

“Sometimes, after an interminable dinner, I would go up to my room and find a letter lying on my pillow.

He wrote to me how proud he was of me because I had done this or achieved that.

I smiled, slipped the letter under my pillow, but I also wondered why he hadn't told me that earlier, when we were sitting face to face, ”says the husband of Meghan Markle.

Despite his failures, Charles tried to always stay close to his two sons, whom he loved to take to Klosters, this Swiss ski resort he loves so much.

However, it's a safe bet that the publication of Harry's memoirs will weaken his start to his reign, just a few months before his coronation scheduled for May 6.

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