Prince Harry has beef with his fictionalised dad.

Though Netflix's The Crown has finished up, the ensuing drama hasn't been put to bed just yet.

British actor Dominic West was featured in the hit show's final two seasons, cast as King Charles... aka Prince Harry's father. The show is set in the '90s when King Charles was rather Prince Charles. 

Despite playing a royal, it turns out that West and Prince Harry had a falling out of sorts, with West admitting Harry "stopped talking" to him a decade ago.

This week, West said in an interview with Radio Times that the pair had lost touch, though it was more Harry's decision. And a new report has confirmed West's comments too.

Watch the trailer for the final season of The Crown. Post continues below.

West and Harry did a charity event together in 2013 which involved them taking a trip to Antarctica, West saying they were on good terms at the time. It was for Walking With The Wounded - an expedition through Antarctica with injured military veterans.

Upon being asked if he spoke to Harry before taking on the role of the Queen's eldest son, West said, "No, we sort of...no. I said too much in a press conference, and so we didn't speak after that."

Asked to clarify, West said: "I think I was asked what we did [after the successful charity expedition]. What we did to celebrate when we got there and probably said too much."

At a 2014 press conference in question, West had said: "[Harry] was very much part of the team. He seemed to specialise in building latrines. He built this incredible castellated structure with blocks to keep out the wind, and it even had a [toilet] roll holder. Sitting there, looking at the beautiful view thinking 'this is a royal flush, in every way'."

West also shared an interesting anecdote with the press.

"Two of the Aussie guys stripped naked and ran round the pole but most of us, Harry included, just went on a two-day bender with the Icelandic truck drivers who had brought some lethal home brew with them. There was a lot of liqueur drunk. We all drank champagne out of [one of the team's] favourite prosthetic legs."

Following West's comments, royal writer Richard Eden wrote that a friend of the actor's claimed last year that Harry had thrown "a sh*t fit" after the press conference.

"He accused Dominic of invading his privacy. Dominic told him not to be ridiculous. They haven't spoken since," Eden claimed.

Dominic West and Prince Harry at the Walking With The Wounded expedition in 2013. Image: Getty.

In another telling interview this month, West revealed that he prevented his 15-year-old son from playing a young Prince William again in The Crown.

In season five, his son Senan West was cast and played the mentioned role. He was then told by his dad he couldn't continue the acting gig into season six due to its storyline, which focuses on Princess Diana's death.

"I didn't really fancy doing the scene at Balmoral [Castle], telling a boy his mother has died," West explained to Radio Times.

"They invited Senan back because he did such a good job, and he was great, but I did slightly balk at that. It was unfair of me because he did want to do it, but I wouldn't have fancied that, to be honest."

Although West and Harry are not close friends or even acquaintances anymore, West does have a connection to one of the royals - and it so happens to be King Charles.

The duo know each other through West's wife, Catherine FitzGerald, who is a member of the Irish aristocracy. She is also a landscape gardener, sharing a love of horticulture with King Charles - who is well-known for his love of gardening and the environment.

They have properties that neighbour one another, and FitzGerald was chosen to redesign the 100-acre gardens at Hillsborough Castle - the royal family's official residence in Northern Ireland.

She has met King Charles on a number of occasions, and she has also worked on additional horticultural projects with the King. FitzGerald was personally thanked by the King in his speech to mark the successful reopening of the Hillsborough Castle estate in 2019.

Before receiving the role on The Crown, West was an ambassador for 'The Prince's Trust', a charity founded by King Charles in 1976.

Concerned about the conflict of interest, West said he reached out to King Charles informing him he would be playing him on screen. West said he expressed his wish to resign from the trust as a result. 

He then received a surprising response from the King's press secretary.

Dominic West with his wife, Catherine FitzGerald. Image: Getty.

West told Radio Times that the response was along the lines of: "'You do what you like, you're an actor, it's nothing to do with us.' I think that's probably how [King Charles] regards it. I've been in line to shake his hand a few times - and it's fascinating. It's very useful to meet the character you're playing."

West said of the King that he is an "emotional" and "open-hearted guy" in private, "in spite of his buttoned-up exterior" in public.

His comments come a week after a journalist suggested West was "too sexy to play Charles". It's not the first casting complaint levelled at The Crown for choosing West to play the monarch. Even West shares the perspective that his casting wasn't quite right. 

"It's quite disconcerting as I didn't look anything like him when I looked in the mirror," he told the Daily Mail. 

"I kept telling the producers that they had cast the wrong person. But they explained that this was not a show of imitations. But that was difficult as this is a real person who is hugely famous and recognisable."

It's also no secret that relations between the King and his son are currently on shaky ground. Journalist and royal author Omid Scobie's new book Endgame gave insight into the fraught relationship, saying it is "beyond repair" on both sides.

As for where the two royals stand on watching The Crown, it is on the radar...

Sources close to the King said he did watch the early seasons of the show, but found season four too close to home. It's therefore unlikely he has avidly watched West's portrayal of him in season five and six.

Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey he has seen some of the series, and when he was on James Corden's show, he shared, "I am way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing stories written about my family or my wife."

Sources very close to Prince Harry's camp confirmed last month he would not be watching the final season, given its "sensitive" storyline. As for his distance from West though... Harry is yet to speak on it. 

This article was published on December 27, 2023, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty.

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