Prince Harry’s new meeting with King Charles shows a thaw in frosty relations, royal experts say – but don’t expect Meghan to be popping over to see the in-laws just yet
Prince Harry’s expected meeting with King Charles in London next week suggests the frosty relations between father and son could be on the mend as the monarch undergoes cancer treatment, according to royal experts.
Reports suggest the Duke of Sussex will meet with his father in the capital on Wednesday night after attending an Invictus Games event at St Paul’s Cathedral that wraps up at the same time as a Buckingham Palace garden party.
This means there is a window of opportunity for the Duke, 39, to drop in on ‘Pa’ for the second time in recent weeks after news of the King’s cancer diagnosis broke in early February – with sources suggesting he is keen to meet wherever possible.
Royal commentators told MailOnline Harry’s hopes of seeing his father, along with other moves by the Sussexes in recent weeks to tighten up their PR strategy, point to a desire by the prince to rebuild bridges with his estranged family.
Richard Fitzwilliams, an expert on the royal family, said he expected Harry to visit his father during his cancer recovery at every possible opportunity – and has suggested their meetings could pave the way for a reconciliation with his brother William.
Prince Harry is set to meet his father for the second time in weeks three months after the King revealed he was being treated for cancer (pictured together in 2019)
Meghan has not visited the UK since 2022 (pictured during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June that year)
King Charles resumed public-facing royal duties this week as he continues undergoing treatment for cancer (pictured with Queen Camilla on a visit to UCLH Macmillan Cancer Centre in London)
Charles and Zara Tindall hug as as they greet each other at the Endurance event on day three of the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Friday
And while there could even be room for Meghan and grandchildren Lilibet and Archie to join him on a future visit, he anticipates Harry will have to rebuild the family’s trust after scathing attacks over the last couple of years.
But recent moves such as appointing new public relations experts – and a noticeable softening of their stance on the family – suggest Harry is preparing to extend an olive branch with the meeting, first reported by The Sun.
Mr Fitzwilliams said of the anticipated reunion. ‘I’m not surprised. It is naturally a normal thing for a son to want to do.
‘But what has happened, of course, a relatively short period ago, we had (controversial memoir) Spare at the beginning of last year and attacks on the royal family in the interviews he gave to promote it. A lot of it was very, very unwise.
‘But the Sussexes have just beefed up their communications team with two new appointments and I think that is significant, because I think that they are paying more attention now to their PR, something they wouldn’t (have considered before).
‘Who advised Harry on Spare, when he told us how many Taliban he killed, when he discussed experimenting with drugs, penile frostbite, losing his virginity?
‘This was someone who was simply doing his own thing and wasn’t paying attention to the essential part of public relations – the importance of your brand.
‘But on the other hand, there have been no attacks on the royal family recently, nor will there be for rather obvious reasons.
‘The difficulty they now have is that they have to be trusted if they are going to build, or rebuild bridges, because I don’t think members of the royal family will trust the Sussexes.
‘The King has made clear his door is always open and obviously Harry is going to see quite a lot of him over the weeks and months ahead.
‘When there is serious illness you have a situation where privately, quitely, which isn’t the way the Sussexes do things normally, you have to have a meeting of minds.’
Ghostwritten autobiography Spare courted controversy with its account of an alleged physical assault by Prince William, whom Harry also accused of calling Meghan ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive‘.
And the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 touched upon clashes with other members of the royal family and an allegation that comments had been made about the colour of first-born son Archie’s skin.
A similar allegation resurfaced in Endgame, a book about the monarchy written by journalist Omid Scobie at the end of last year.
Relations have been frosty for years, not helped by Harry and Meghan’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 (pictured)
Prince Harry’s memoir Spare (pictured here at launch in a bookstore in Australia) also drove a further wedge between him and his family
Harry and Meghan are now fully settled into life in the US, with the Duke now declaring the United States to be his primary residence
Prince Harry was perceived as snubbing his father after he presented a US soldier with an award via video message without wearing Charles’ Coronation medal
He denied accusations of acting as a ‘mouthpiece’ for the couple – but there was fury when a Dutch translation of the book alleged that the King and Catherine, Princess of Wales were the royals who had asked questions about Archie’s skin.
Any long-term reconciliation between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the family will take time after these revelations, Mr Fitzwilliams says, not helped by perceived snubs by Harry towards his father such as not wearing his Coronation medal.
But with the family in deep crisis as two of its most senior members battle cancer, those talks can begin in earnest now.
‘This is a new era for the royal family and it only makes sense, both in the short and the long term, that the rift is mended,’ Mr Fitzwilliams continued.
‘The problem is, the world is looking on because the royals can’t do anything without it being looked at, as the world’s most high-profile royal family. Harry has opted out and yet he hasn’t.
‘He will be very aggrieved at what has happened to the King and will be unquestionably deeply sorry regarding Catherine – but William doesn’t trust him and it will be some time before he does.
‘It’s tremendously pressurised for William and Catherine at the moment, for obvious reasons, and of course they’ve got their family, so they won’t be seeing Harry from what I understand.’
Meghan, who hasn’t been to the UK since 2022, is unlikely to join him just yet while he starts to patch up relations with his estranged family.
But should the rift between the royals be closed Mr Fitzwilliams suspects she may well accompany her husband to Britain once more – as he begins his life anew in the United States.
‘What happens long term? I suspect the meeting with the King will be one of several (to come),’ he said.
‘To what extent in the future Megan might be involved, and also the King’s grandchildren Archie and Lily, that, people will keep an eye on.
‘That will be an indication of how things are going between Harry and his father, and eventually Harry and his brother and sister-in-law.
‘The Sussexes have been pretty unpredictable in the past but of course I’m bearing in mind that King Charles is recovering from cancer and the prognosis is good and it’s been wonderful to see him out and about – but it will be a long process.
‘And Catherine is similar. It’s a very, very stressful period and during a difficult illness you need people you can trust.
‘If there have been problems, they must clearly wait until such time it is mutually convenient (for them to be resolved). We are in new territory.’
Following this week’s Invictus ceremony, Meghan and Harry have been invited to Nigeria by the country’s chief of defence staff to take part in ‘cultural activities’.
They will meet service members and their families and participate in ‘traditional cultural activities’, according to Nigerian media.
