It was a long time coming, but after four years, the King finally hugged his grandkids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. While the reunion with the youngsters he barely knows would have been a wonderful, heartwarming moment for His Majesty, a full reconciliation with their parents, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is most likely still some way off.
The family reunion at Highgrove House may look like a breakthrough, but royal experts believe Charles has opened the door to Harry without giving him the key.
Meanwhile, brother Prince William’s door remains firmly shut – there was no contact between the siblings. Royal writer Ingrid Seward has described the meeting as an “interim truce” and says it’s unlikely to have fixed the issues caused by the Sussexes since they left their royal roles in 2020.
“I’m sure Charles felt that he had to find time to do this while the whole family was here and if he didn’t do it now, it would become an insurmountable problem. It had to be dealt with.”
Harry and Meghan’s quiet royal visit
Meghan, 44, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, joined Harry, 41, at the end of his brief visit to the UK, where he’d travelled to support several charities and promote next year’s Invictus Games. They did not make any public appearances and managed to slip unseen into Highgrove, 160km from central London. Buckingham Palace later confirmed that the Sussex family had afternoon tea with the King, 77, and Queen Camilla, 79.
Insiders say the meeting was very much a case of Charles being in charge, with the monarch hosting his son and his family on his terms. It wasn’t a “surrender” to any demands from Harry and Meghan, according to royal writer Rob Shuter.
A grandfather first, a King second
“It was a grandfather wanting to see his grandchildren. People are confusing compassion with capitulation. Yes, the meeting happened. But look at what didn’t happen. There was no official photograph. No public embrace. No balcony moment. No joint statement declaring a new chapter. No announcement restoring Harry’s role. No change to security arrangements. No constitutional shift. The monarchy gave away absolutely nothing.”
Choosing Highgrove as the location for the meeting was a strategic move on the King’s part. It’s not an official royal residence, so it’s a lot less formal than the likes of Buckingham Palace. Its location in the rural Cotswolds means it’s very much out of public view.
It was Harry’s home for many years, so he would have felt comfortable there and enjoyed his kids seeing where he spent his childhood.
Ingrid says she has no doubt the King would have been “delighted to show his grandchildren around Highgrove, which is his pride and joy”.
A small step towards reconciliation
Charles hadn’t seen the children since they travelled to the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022, when Lilibet was just a baby, and Archie was only three, so the meeting would have been emotional for him. But it doesn’t mean all is forgiven.
Ingrid says, “I can’t see them being happy families forever, but it’s a diplomatic interim moment. It had to be done for Harry, for the King and for the grandchildren.”
Still, the meeting is a milestone in Harry and Charles’ fractured relationship. Harry has repeatedly said he wants to reconcile with his dad, and because the King is dealing with an undisclosed form of cancer and approaching his eighties, it means his children may be running out of time to get to know their Grandpa.
Harry was adamant he wouldn’t take his family to the UK unless they had round-the-clock police protection, so the fact they went despite him losing his latest court battle with the Home Office over security was significant.
A chance to reconnect as a family
The reunion was a chance for the King to focus on getting to know the children without having to do any deals with Harry over issues like security. Not only has His Majesty been unable to form a precious bond with Archie and Lilibet, but they have also been missing out on the very special relationship kids can have with their grandparents.
Now that they’re getting older and better able to understand who their dad’s father is, they may feel like they’re also missing out on a huge, very important part of their heritage. For Meghan, it was also her first interaction with her royal in-laws in four years. Given her kids don’t have a relationship with her estranged father, Thomas Markle, 81, she would surely want them to get to know their other grandad, says a palace insider. And Meghan also knows how important it is to maintain ties with the royal family to strengthen the Sussex brand.
Adds Ingrid, “I feel Meghan needed the stardust of royalty to make her look more relevant than she is at this moment.”
Why there were no reunion photos
Camilla’s presence at the reunion was not just to provide support for the King, but was a positive sign that she isn’t giving the Sussexes the cold shoulder, despite Harry calling her the “wicked stepmother” in his memoir Spare.
Ingrid shares it was “absolutely right” there were no photos of the meeting released publicly as “it has to be clear that it was to be private and that way they can repeat it. But if Harry is going to leak anything to the press, it won’t be repeated”.
While the lack of a photo indicates a private family event, it also signifies that there wasn’t a reconciliation to announce to the world, says Rob Shuter.
“If Buckingham Palace wanted the world to see this as a reconciliation, there would have been a picture. The fact there wasn’t tells you everything you need to know.”
Only time will tell whether this marks the start of more “gentle” interactions or proves to be a one-off meeting. At the moment, the King holds all the cards.
