King Charles III was busy last week marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and preparing to fly to Canada to open its parliament later this month. But his public schedule was eclipsed yet again by a highly-publicized eruption from his estranged younger son, Prince Harry.

It has become a familiar pattern for the 76-year-old monarch. Two years after his coronation, his reign is shaping up as both eventful and oddly unchanging in its core narrative — that of a beleaguered father managing a messy brood.

Harry’s emotional plea to be reconciled with his family — made in a recent interview with the BBC, in which he mused about how long his cancer-stricken father had left to live — resurfaced bitter ruptures within the royal family, which has yet to find its footing in the still-fledgling Carolean era.

“There is an overhang in the way we see Charles’ reign,” said Ed Owens, a historian who writes about the British monarchy. “It hasn’t really gotten going, nor are we sure how long it will last.”

To be sure, the king has done a lot. Despite undergoing weekly treatments for cancer diagnosed last year, he traveled to France, Australia, Poland and Italy. He found time to curate a playlist for Apple Music (Kylie Minogue and Bob Marley feature), played host at state banquets and posed for portraits.

But Harry’s comments, which came after a legal defeat over his security arrangements in Britain, dragged attention back to the rift that opened in 2020 when he and his wife, Meghan, withdrew from royal life and moved to California.