King Charles is said to have offered Prince Harry a major olive branch after he first stepped back from royal duties in 2020. The Duke of Sussex, 40, has been seeking to overturn a High Court decision that had downgraded his security after he stopped being a working royal and moved to the US.

However, according to a source, the King was so eager to help out his son that he was the one who paid for private security for Harry and Meghan Markle, 43, after they stepped down as senior working royals.

Speaking on a recent episode of Palace Confidential, the Daily Mail's Rebecca English said: "He understood if his life was going to be North America - at that point they still thought it was still going to be Canada - that he wouldn't get it. The negotiations then were already over what private security he was going to get and who would be paying for that."

She then added: "The person who paid for it, my understanding is, for at least the first year after him leaving the Royal Family, was actually his father King Charles."

Speaking about Harry's previous claims over his father, she added he was "far from being an uncaring father."

Ms English explained further about the King's apparent olive branch to his youngest son. "He was saying: "Look, I understand you need time to get on your feet financially and this is a significant cost to bear'."

Speaking after his BBC interview earlier this month which came after he lost his appeal for police protection in the UK, interviewer Nada Tawfik said that he did not get "defensive" when pressed over certain topics, such as why protection on a case-by-case basis made him feel at greater risk.

She recently shared in an article for the BBC: "He wasn't defensive or combative, and he wanted to address each of those points."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been living with their two children in California - having moved their with their son in 2020.

After moving stateside with Prince Archie, now aged six, the couple later welcomed their daughter Lilibet in June 2021.