Prince Harry is in London for WellChild Awards and may meet King Charles for the first time in over a year, with tensions, trust, and family issues at stake, according to Mirror US.
As Harry visits London, questions grow over a possible meeting with King Charles, Meghan’s stance, and whether long-standing family rifts can ever be healed.(AFP)
Prince Harry is in the UK this week for the WellChild Awards, which also falls around his 41st birthday. Some believe he may try to see his father, King Charles. If that happens, it would be the first time the two have met in more than 18 months. Royal biographer Tom Bower called it “a meeting full of peril.”
While Harry is in London, Meghan is at home in California. On her show, With Love, Meghan, she laughed when a guest bartender admitted he had never watched Suits. Tom said Meghan feels secure knowing Harry’s “priority” is her and their children.
Also Read: Prince Harry back in UK, but will he see his father King Charles?
Harry last saw Charles in February 2024
Harry last saw Charles in February 2024, right after his father revealed his cancer. Harry flew in, met him privately for about half an hour, and left the next day. Since then, Harry’s trips to the UK were mostly about his court case over losing police protection for himself, Meghan, and their kids. Tom said meetings were avoided then because, “The fear with the court case was that Harry could invent something the King said about the case – and it would cause a constitutional crisis. That fear has prevented any meeting until now, but even now the case is over, the fear still remains.”
Harry has said he wants to make peace. In May, after losing in court, he said, “I would love a reconciliation with my family. I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff… but it would be nice to reconcile.”
Harry’s Spare damaged trust inside the palace
Still, many think Harry’s actions, especially writing Spare, damaged trust inside the palace. Tom said, “The obstacle Harry faces is enormous, to somehow convince his father that his past actions are behind him. I think he will be too stubborn to apologize, because that’s not what he believes, he thinks he has acted appropriately. He simply doesn’t understand the repercussions of his actions. The question Charles will be asking is, ‘Can I trust my son?’ and, from Harry’s perspective, he will be focused on convincing his father he can be trusted, because he needs to find a way back to Britain.”
Harry has also said he worries about safety if Meghan, 44, and their children Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, travel to the UK.
Former royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! magazine that Meghan might not like the idea of Harry meeting Charles. She said Meghan felt “unsettled and unhappy in her royal life,” and explained, “It would be natural for her to feel somewhat threatened by her husband being drawn back into the royal circle. So, I think she would have conflicting emotions about Harry meeting his father, if this is indeed on the cards. I’m sure, though, that they would have discussed it, and that Harry would not go ahead if he did not have his wife’s support. I think it’s too early for the prince to involve Meghan and the children in any reconciliation.”
No official word has been given about a meeting. Tom said Charles would need William’s approval. He added, “Because of Charles’s health, William won’t stand in the way of them meeting, it would be inhuman.” He also said Queen Camilla is unlikely to object,“Camilla is also clearly sympathetic towards Charles, and I think she could brush aside some of the awful things Harry has said about her in Spare and his interviews. It’s not important for her emotionally other than the effect on Charles, and that is clearly something she’s taking into account.”
Charles’s staff met with Harry and Meghan’s team
In July, members of Charles’s staff met with Harry and Meghan’s team in London. Reports called it “secret peace talks,” though Harry was said to be “frustrated” about the leak.
Tom said any meeting between Charles and Harry would just be the start: “If they meet, it is a beginning but there is a long way to go towards repairing relations to anything close to normal. Charles and Harry will hope they can speak, but the elephant in the room is what has happened since he and Meghan stepped down. It will need a few meetings to get the atmosphere down.”
Since 2022, Meghan has stayed quiet about the family rift, focusing on her brand, As Ever, her Netflix show, and raising the children.
Tom said Harry’s struggle remains, “I am convinced Harry’s priority is his wife and children, and he will have made that clear. But he’s faced with a dreadful dilemma, in that his wife doesn’t want to come back to Britain, but he is desperate to rebuild roots in Britain. He has split loyalties and split ambitions. The choice is between the Devil and the deep blue sea.”