In recent interviews, Prince Harry has talked about the special bond he enjoyed with his late grandmother the Queen and claimed she supported him in his legal battles before his death – but according to a royal expert, this has not gone down well with Palace courtiers

Prince Harry has reportedly left Buckingham Palace courtiers ‘unimpressed’ after making a series of claims about the late Queen, according to an expert.

The Duke of Sussex has long talked about the special bond he shared with his grandmother, describing their special relationship in an interview on US TV in the months before her death and claiming he wanted to protect her from the people around her. In a recent TV interview, Harry talked about his grandmother again, saying that before she died at Balmoral in September 2022, she was fully behind his numerous legal battles, explaining: “‘She knew how much this meant to me and she’s very much up there saying ‘see this through to the end’.”

However, according to the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden, the comments have caused a stir with courtiers at Buckingham Palace, who believe the claims are “distinctly off”. Writing in his column, he explained: “One courtier I spoke to this week was far from happy with Harry’s ‘tasteless’ attempt to claim his grandmother’s support in his continuing ‘crusade’.

“As he told me: ‘There is something distinctly ‘off’ about it. We’ll never know what was said between grandson and grandmother. What we do know is that we will only ever know one side of the story.'”

It comes after sources have also claimed that Harry and King Charles are 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. This raised eyebrows at the time, with a statement from Harry suggesting his father was too busy to see him and reports later claiming the King had offered his son a place to stay in a royal residence.

However, sources close to the Sussex 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.

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 to PEOPLE 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.