Prince Harry said he wants to "reset" his relationship with the royal family and the people of the United Kingdom after a four-day visit to Britain that culminated in a reconciliation meeting with King Charles.
A royal source told the Daily Mail that the Duke of Sussex — who attended events in London and Nottingham this week — now "regrets some of his actions" since stepping back from royal duties and sees the recent engagements and the Clarence House meeting as the start of restoring a "functioning wider family".
The meeting with the monarch, described in media reports as lasting roughly an hour, was the first private encounter between father and son in 19 months. A spokesman for Harry said the duke "loved" being back in the U.K., catching up with old friends and supporting causes he has long championed.
Harry left the U.K. immediately after his final engagement and travelled to Ukraine on a trip linked to his work with the Invictus Games and support for wounded veterans. The duke flew to Poland and then took a train to Kyiv, where he planned visits to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, meetings with hundreds of veterans and a scheduled discussion with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
The visit to Kyiv comes days after Russian cruise missile strikes in the Ukrainian capital and after reports that Russian attack drones violated Polish airspace. Harry told reporters he had checked with his wife and the British government before travelling and said the trip aimed to help "humanise" the people affected by the conflict and keep the situation in the public eye.
Royal sources and media reports said the King is keen to rebuild ties with his son and to spend time with his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet, whom he has not seen in person since 2022. Charles last saw the children during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022; he has met Lilibet only once and Archie on a handful of occasions.
Whether Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will return to the U.K. with her family remains unclear. Media reports note she has not been to Britain since the Queen's death in September 2022. The prospect of a family visit has been complicated by security arrangements: after the couple stepped back from frontline royal roles, taxpayer-funded protection for the Sussexes was reduced, prompting a legal dispute with the Home Office. Insiders told the Daily Mail that any future visit to see the King could involve armed bodyguards or arrangements to bring the family within a royal security perimeter at a residence such as Balmoral or Sandringham.
The four-day trip included a series of public engagements focused on charities and mental health, including an event for The Diana Award that organisers said had been planned with the duke. Tessy Ojo, chief executive of The Diana Award, told the press she did not expect joint public appearances with other senior royals in the near term, citing a long history of separate involvement by Harry and his brother, the Prince of Wales.
There was no meeting between Harry and his brother, Prince William, despite reports that at one point they were only a few miles apart. The relationship between the brothers remains strained after years of public disagreements and critical remarks by Harry about the royal family.
Harry's spokesman described the U.K. engagements as successful and said the duke had enjoyed reconnecting with his causes and acquaintances. Royal commentators and sources framed the Clarence House meeting as a cautious step toward reconciliation, but they emphasised there is no clear timeline for a full thaw or for Meghan and the children to return to Britain.
The duke's visit to Ukraine will see him meet veterans and political leaders as part of ongoing Invictus Games-related work. organisers and aides said the trip was intended to support recovery efforts and keep international attention on the conflict and its impact on service personnel.
Any further developments in relations between Harry and the royal family or plans for family visits to the U.K. are expected to be announced only if and when the parties reach agreement on security and logistics and decide to make public statements about reunions or future engagements.