bitchy | Prince Harry ‘didn’t hear from Charles, he wanted to hear from his father directly’

People Magazine published additional excerpts from their cover story this week: “Why Harry’s Going Without Meghan.” In yesterday’s excerpts, we learned from “sources” that the Duchess of Sussex was thinking about going to the coronation to support her father-in-law, but she didn’t want to have to put herself through “the scrutiny” of the British media. “Scrutiny” being some kind of euphemism for targeted hate campaign. Anyway, these new excerpts are putting more of an emphasis on Harry’s perspective. Keep in mind, for days now, Buckingham Palace has been leaking a steady stream of “olive branch” stories, trying to make King Charles sound magnanimous and wise, a doting father and grandfather who has heart-to-heart conversations with his darling boy. Except that sources tell People that Charles didn’t even contact Harry directly for a while.

The coronation invite: When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex received an email about the royal event from Charles’ office — and not from Harry’s father himself — it became clear that the “sit-down” the prince sought to talk through their issues following the release of his memoir Spare wasn’t going to happen, a close friend tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story. “They didn’t hear from Charles. Harry wanted to hear from his father directly — it’s always through somebody,” the friend says.

Harry & Charles eventually did speak over the phone: With the coronation just weeks away and the big question of whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would attend the historic ceremony remaining, the estranged father and son ultimately connected — although not in person — and had “positive conversations,” a source says.

Charles’s first wish: A source who knows the royals tells PEOPLE it would be King Charles’ “first wish” for Harry to join them at the coronation. “Despite the wounds, it’s his son, and I can’t imagine he wouldn’t want him to be there regardless of the hurtful things that have been said,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith adds.

Why Harry is going: For Prince Harry, his solo appearance at the coronation has everything to do with his desire to have, as he has stated, a “family, not an institution.” “This is about a son showing up for his father rather than the optics of the institution,” the close friend says.

No family reconciliation: “What they wanted wasn’t achieved,” the insider continued. “But at the end of the day, he’s going there to support his dad.”

[From People]

Yeah, I believe that Charles and Harry weren’t speaking and that the e-vite came through staff. I think Charles has regularly cut off personal communications with Harry over the years, and I’d be willing to bet that father and son did not speak over the phone from, like, October of last year through March. Charles was pissy about the Netflix series and Spare, and his punishment was clear: evicting the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage. My other theory is that Charles’s childish silent treatment was probably the major reason why Harry didn’t confirm his attendance until last week. He was like: I can give you the silent treatment too, dad. Harry went radio silent about the coronation and Charles freaked out and eventually called Harry. I bet you that’s how it happened.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.