Prince Harry Shading Royals During Lawsuit Hearing 'Torpedoed' His Chance Of Reconciling With Them, Says Source: 'The Trust Is Gone'

This week, Prince Harry returned to London for the court hearing regarding his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited — however, the witness statement made public on Tuesday, March 28, seems to solidify the buzz that he would not be seeing his family while he's town.

According to a report, his recent words — in which he shaded the royal family for their refusal to bite back at the press — has the monarchy up in arms.

"Harry has torpedoed any remaining bridges with this statement. It is just six weeks until the coronation and the last thing Charles needs," a source explained to a news outlet. "The trust is gone and I think that’s been made quite clear by the king refusing to meet him."

Another insider noted Prince William feels the same way, so he too is refraining from seeing his brother.

"William is over it at this stage. If this was about his vendetta with [ANL] that would be one thing," the source said. "But Harry keeps doing everything in his power to try and embarrass the family. How can you have a relationship with someone who is doing that?"

Harry, as well as stars like Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, are suing the publishers for invading their privacy, claiming journalists tapped phones, intercepted medical records and more to write stories.

In the Duke of Sussex's recent statement, he said it wasn't until he stepped down from The Institution in 2020 that he began to realize his family may have been assisting NGN in getting away with breaching Harry's privacy.

"There was in place an agreement between the Institution and NGN that we would not engage, or even discuss, the possibility of bringing claims against NGN until the litigation against it relating to phone hacking was over," he said. "The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the royal family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms."

Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!

Added the dad-of-two, "The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN’s phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation."

Charles' coronation takes place in May, though Harry has not revealed whether he'll be in attendance.

The Daily Beast spoke to the royal insiders.