Rift between royal family and Prince Harry grows

Prince Harry was reportedly denied permission to even symbolically take part in a Remembrance Day ceremony in the UK.

The 36-year-old royal personally asked Buckingham Palace for a wreath to be laid at the Cenotaph on his behalf during Remembrance Day services but the proposal reportedly was quickly shut down.

Royal courtiers denied the request on the grounds that he is no longer representing the monarchy, reports the Sunday Times. The Queen was not made aware of her grandson’s wishes.

This must surely have come as a bitter blow to the Duke of Sussex, who served in the army for 10 years, attaining the rank of captain, completed two tours of Afghanistan and created the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded armed services personnel.

According to the Sussex biography “Finding Freedom,” Harry was devastated to be stripped of his military titles earlier this year, the result of him breaking away from the royal family and moving to California with wife Meghan Markle and their son, Archie.

It is yet another sign of the growing schism between him and the royal family. Harry’s brother, Prince William, and their father, Prince Charles, both attended the service and laid wreaths.

Instead, Harry and Markle laid flowers and a wreath at the Los Angeles National Cemetery on Sunday. The couple stopped by the gravestones of two Commonwealth soldiers, one who had served in the Royal Canadian Artillery and one from the Royal Australian Air Force.

Harry, who first laid a wreath in 2009 at the Cenotaph — which is similar to the United States’ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — recently spoke about the solemn day for the podcast “Declassified.”

“Remembrance Day for me is a moment for respect and for hope. I wear [the poppy] to celebrate the bravery and determination of all our veterans. These are the people and moments I remember when I salute, when I stand at attention and when I lay a wreath at the Cenotaph.”

“Service is what happens in the quiet and in the chaos. It’s what happens in the darkness, it’s what happens when people aren’t looking. It’s what happens on and off the battlefield. It’s about carrying out our duty as soldiers,” Harry continued. “For me as a father, a husband, and as a human being, it’s about how we uphold these values in every aspect of our lives.”