King Charles III meets Prince Harry as royal family attempts to reconcile
LONDON — King Charles III hosted Prince Harry and met with his family for the first time in years Friday as they try to repair a rift that has persisted since his youngest son and wife quit royal life and moved to America six years ago, reports BritPanorama.
Harry, Meghan, and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, met with the king and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House, a country estate west of London.
The Duke of Sussex arrived in the UK for a number of charity events that were overshadowed by speculation regarding whether he would meet with his father. British tabloids and news broadcasts were filled with conjecture about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, accompanying him and, more importantly, whether they would bring their children to meet their grandfather.
Initially, it appeared those plans had fizzled after a government committee denied Harry security protection for his family, and Buckingham Palace withdrew its offer for the prince to stay there when it seemed he would come alone.
Harry’s visit coincided with losing his final lawsuit in his quest against the British tabloids. A judge ruled that he had failed to prove his claims of privacy invasion against the publisher of the Daily Mail. His ongoing legal battles have created friction with his family. Despite this, Harry expressed a desire to reconcile with his 77-year-old father, who is reportedly receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Furthermore, Harry wanted his children to meet the monarch, whom they first saw during celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Now aged 7 and 5, Archie and Lilibet are old enough to remember their grandfather well, and they likely hoped for photographs with him, although the event was deemed private and no images will be publicly released.
Tensions within the House of Windsor have been exacerbated since Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties and relocated to California to pursue lucrative media deals, thereby escaping the pressures of royal life in London.
These strains reached a new low after Harry published his memoir, “Spare,” which featured unflattering depictions of the royal family and serious allegations regarding a toxic relationship between the monarchy and the press. In the book, Harry accused royals of leaking information about other family members to facilitate positive coverage of themselves, particularly implicating Camilla in feeding private conversations to the media to rehabilitate her image.
Last year, after losing a court battle concerning his security issue, Harry stated that he hoped to rebuild relationships with his family while suggesting that the royals had aimed to prevent him from receiving police protection as punishment for stepping away from royal duties.
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
