Meghan Markle and Prince Harry continue to stand by each other, yet they approach their estrangement from the royal family from distinctly different angles.

“They’re aware of everything happening in England, but they’re not being kept in the loop — clearly, trust is gone,” a source close to the couple tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.

While Harry still looks back, Meghan keeps her focus forward. “She’s very business-like about it,” the insider adds.

Through it all, Meghan remains a constant source of support, standing by Harry as he navigates legal battles and the painful breakdown of his royal ties. Still, another insider says she wishes her husband could be less weighed down by the past and more engaged in the life they’ve built together in California.

The strain between Harry and his father, King Charles, stretches back five years and remains one of the most painful aspects of the monarch’s reign. Even now, amid the King’s battle with cancer and Harry’s increasingly open remarks, silence continues to dominate their relationship.

“I don’t know how much longer my father has,” Harry said in a BBC interview on May 2, after losing his appeal to reinstate automatic police protection in the U.K.

But what struck harder was his candid admission: “He won’t speak to me.”

The two men were briefly on the same continent in late May when King Charles, 76, visited Canada for a state event, yet emotionally, they remain miles apart.

Once referred to as his father’s “darling boy,” Harry was expected to become a dependable figure within the monarchy. But that vision faded, says royal historian Dr. Ed Owens, author of After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal life and moved to Montecito in 2020 after tensions reached a boiling point. The divide deepened with their headline-making interviews, Netflix docuseries, and Harry’s memoir Spare, which included claims of a physical confrontation with Prince William.

While Harry and William remain estranged, many royal watchers believe it’s King Charles — long seen as a unifying figure — who should take the first step toward healing. But that step hasn’t come.