King Charles III and his son Prince Harry met for private talks at Clarence House on Wednesday evening in what royal sources described as a first step toward rebuilding their relationship and potentially paving the way for Harry’s children to return to the United Kingdom.
The Duke of Sussex spent roughly 55 minutes with the monarch, arriving at Clarence House in a black Range Rover and leaving shortly after. A royal source told the Daily Mail that the meeting over tea could lead to Archie and Lilibet visiting their grandfather for the first time in more than three years. Harry later told reporters he had “loved being back in the UK” and, at an Invictus Games reception the same evening, described the King as “great.” Harry’s office said he and his team would not brief the press about the content of the private conversation.
The meeting on Wednesday followed a brief encounter in February 2024, when Harry flew to see his father after the King’s cancer diagnosis; that earlier meeting lasted just over 15 minutes. Buckingham Palace has not released a full account of Wednesday’s talks. Senior aides to both men were reported to have met in London in July in what was framed as an initial attempt to open channels of communication.
Royal sources said the King has expressed a desire to be a grandfather to Archie and Lilibet and that Charles was pleased to spend time with them during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022. Charles last saw the children at that event and has met Lilibet only once, the sources said. Whether Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, who has not returned to the UK since the Queen’s death in September 2022, would accompany Harry on any future visit remains unclear.
Security arrangements are likely to complicate any visit. Harry and Meghan lost taxpayer-funded security when they stepped back from senior royal duties in 2020, and the couple are pursuing a legal challenge to the Home Office over the matter. The Mail’s source said the Sussexes would likely receive armed protection if they visited the King but added there were “all sorts of obstacles” because of Harry’s insistence on guaranteed armed police protection. The source suggested visits to royal estates such as Balmoral or Sandringham, or other residences within a security perimeter, might be possible.
The duke was on a four-day visit to Britain for a series of solo charity events this week, including the WellChild Awards, a donation announcement in Nottingham, and engagements connected to the Invictus Games and the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in White City. At the centre, Harry’s office announced three grants totalling $500,000 from the Archewell Foundation to projects supporting injured children in Gaza and Ukraine, including $200,000 to the World Health Organization for medical evacuations and $150,000 to Save the Children. Harry has long championed rehabilitation and support for wounded service personnel and founded the Invictus Games in 2014.
Prince William did not attend the meeting at Clarence House but was reported to have been aware it would take place. The relationship between the brothers has remained strained since Harry and Meghan’s withdrawal from royal duties and a series of public revelations and allegations in Harry’s memoir and interviews. Harry has said he hopes for reconciliation with his family, though he has acknowledged that some relatives may never forgive him for publishing his memoir.
Palace aides have not provided further comment on the meeting. Observers noted that, while the session is being framed by some sources as a possible first step toward family reconciliation, both sides face substantive issues to resolve, including privacy, security arrangements and longstanding personal grievances. Harry was reported to be staying in a hotel during the visit, rather than at a royal residence.
If Archie and Lilibet were to return to the UK, it would be their first sustained visit since the Platinum Jubilee, and would mark a notable moment in the royals’ fractured family life. For now, the meeting at Clarence House stands as a private attempt at rebuilding ties between the King and his younger son, with those involved urging discretion and saying little about specific outcomes or timelines.