King Charles offered Prince Harry olive branch before the Duke of Sussex “snubbed” his father again. Prince Harry and King Charles, the head of the Royal Family, didn’t see each other while the Duke was back in the UK this month to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Invictus Games.

The Times’s royal correspondent, Roya Nikkah, claims that it was Harry who had rejected the King’s invitation, rather than the King being too busy with other commitments. Nikkah and Kate Mansey were drawn to the new and very red painting of King Charles on a recent podcast.

They used first official portrait to also look back at images of old to predict the future direction of the monarchy. They analysed Roya’s exclusive earlier in the week on reports that the King had agreed to a request from the Duke of Sussex to stay in a royal residence ahead of the Duke’s trip to London.

Harry, it is thought, chose instead to stay in a hotel. The two editors discussed how they piece together the jigsaw of briefings, tip-offs and insights to make royal coverage possible. Ms Nikkah claimed: “He could have had two nights with Charles, and he declined.

“Is that really a good look for the King to not make time for his son regardless of what has happened in the past? I just thought something didn’t feel quite right about this and dug away. I found out that actually, Harry had asked if he could stay and Charles had said yes. That way it would have been much easier to see him.

“This narrative of Harry saying ‘I wanted to see my father but he is too busy to see me’. Actually, the reality was Charles said ‘Please come and stay in a royal gaff.’ Ms Nikkah added: “Neither side will cede an inch as to what happened… It is a bit sad isn’t it.”

She said: “I suspect when the Palace and the King look at those images of Prince Harry and Meghan (in Nigeria), they think ‘Oh… They are going down quite well. How does that make us feel?”