Why Prince Charles Can't 'Deal' With Prince Harry's Criticism, According To Royal Expert

Prince Charles and Prince Harry have found it difficult to work out their differences in part due to the Prince of Wales' sensitivity, Princess Diana's former voice coach has suggested.

Stewart Pearce, who recently released his new book "Diana, The Voice of Change," recently gave some insight into his late friend's former husband during an interview with Us Weekly. He noted that his comments are "just simply categoric observations about how perhaps [some royals’] behavior [were] not always as emotionally intelligent as it could be."

According to the royal expert, Prince Charles was a "very, very shy man, a very sensitive and delicate man" behind closed doors.

"We see his public personality, but in private, he’s immensely sensitive," Pearce claimed, adding, "When we’re sensitive, if we’re dealing with very strong, combustible emotion on the outside of us," people tend to go with a flight or fight response.

Pearce noted that Prince Charles shrunk back and became "aloof" after Princess Diana publicly accused him of having an affair with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. "Well, that doesn't heal the challenge that's taking place," he continued.

Prince Harry previously claimed in his and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey that his father shunned his attempts at communication after they announced their decision to quit royal duties. According to Pearce, he wasn’t surprised by the Prince of Wales’ reaction.

"That’s what Charles does. … He can’t deal with it because of his sensitivity, so he hides," Pearce said. "And what Harry’s trying to do is to heal that. Not out of umbrage, not out of anger or revenge or criticism or accusation. … I felt that he was just somebody saying, ‘This is the way that it is, and this is why we want to make change.'"

This came months after the Sussexes' CBS tell-all, where the duke said he was disappointed when his father allegedly "stopped taking" his calls.

"I feel really let down, because he’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like, and Archie’s his grandson," Prince Harry said at the time. "I will always love him, but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. And I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship."

Prince Charles was livid with Prince Harry's "constant digs" against him and the royal family, Us Weekly previously reported, citing an unnamed insider. The heir apparent hoped that the Duke of Sussex would stop airing their family matters in public, according to the source.

"The general consensus within the royal family is to ignore Harry’s behavior, to avoid fanning the flames, but Charles is finding it hard to hold back. He really wants to defend himself," the source said.

Another unnamed insider previously told Us Weekly that "Charles thinks these matters could have easily been addressed in private."