Prince Harry returned to Britain on Monday, the third anniversary of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s death, for a four-day visit of public engagements while questions persisted over whether he would meet his father, King Charles III.
The Duke of Sussex is scheduled to appear at the WellChild Awards in London on the anniversary and will travel to Nottingham on Tuesday to visit a community recording studio, part of a programme of charity and patronage engagements during the trip. He arrived without his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, and this is his first UK visit in five months.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on any plans for a meeting between Harry and the king. King Charles is in Scotland at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire and has no public engagements scheduled for the week marking the anniversary. The two last saw one another in February of last year when the duke made a transatlantic trip after learning of the king’s cancer diagnosis; reports at the time said the visit lasted just over 30 minutes before the king left to recuperate at Sandringham.
Palace aides have not confirmed a reunion, and reports in the Mail on Sunday said any private meeting would be tightly controlled information, known only to the king, Harry and the king’s private secretary, Clive Alderton. A source quoted by the Sunday paper said a meeting was "not off the table," and that Harry would "drop everything" to attend if invited.
The visit comes amid an extended rift between Harry and senior members of the royal family that widened after he and Meghan stepped back from senior royal duties in 2020 and later relocated to North America. Harry was last in the UK in April for a High Court hearing over changes to his security arrangements; he lost an appeal in May seeking taxpayer-funded protection.
Organisers have framed the trip as focused on charitable work that has long been associated with the duke. A source cited by Hello Magazine told the publication that Harry was "so excited" and in a "really good headspace" about returning to meet people involved in his patronages.
Harry’s engagements on Tuesday revisit places he and Meghan attended together in the past; the pair last marked World Mental Health Day at the Nottingham community recording studio in October 2019, two months before they announced they would step down as working royals.
Officials at Buckingham Palace and Harry’s office have issued no further details about other planned private meetings during the visit. The duke is set to remain in the UK for several days, carrying out engagements that his representatives say will concentrate on the causes he supports. Any meeting with the king, if it occurs, would be the most closely watched development of the visit and could mark a notable shift in the relationship between the two men, who have been publicly estranged in recent years.