As catch-ups go, the meeting between the King and Prince Harry was pretty brief – just 50 minutes – even though it had been 19 months since they last saw each other. But there’s hope the recent get-together at Clarence House has been an all-important first step towards a reconciliation between father and son. And it could be Harry’s kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who are providing the motivation for both sides to patch up their rift.
After his four-day solo trip to the UK, which included the meeting with his father, as well as carrying out a handful of charity engagements, Harry told an interviewer that he wanted to be able to take his children to his home country to meet up with family, despite the fact he’s been at loggerheads with the UK government over its refusal to provide police security for them.
Hope for family reconnection
“This week has definitely brought that closer,” he said of his hopes his kids will visit.
He added that he loved the UK and had enjoyed reconnecting with causes he is passionate about. He didn’t talk about his meeting with the King, but suggested he wanted to see his father more often, saying over the coming year, “the focus really has to be on my dad”.
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There has been talk that Harry, 41, would like Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, to eventually be educated in the UK, but some sources say that while he does want to reset his relationship with his family, it’s unlikely he’ll ever go back to live in Britain. Still, the meeting with his father, who he hadn’t seen since travelling to London in February 2024 after the King announced he had cancer, could be the “start of something that at least allows them to be a functioning wider family again.”
The King’s grandfatherly wish
The King, 76, is eager to spend time with his US-based grandkids, whom he hasn’t seen in three years. However, the one person who may be throwing a spanner in the works when it comes to playing happy families again is Prince William. One source says the meeting between his father and brother has made the Prince of Wales “double down” on his determination to keep Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, out of royal life.
William’s anger boils over
“William is back at the point where if you mention Prince Harry in his presence, he would throw you out of the room,” says the insider.
His current fury is in part due to Harry’s campaign to get back in people’s good books, which his younger brother launched last year. Harry, who has been based in the US for the past five years, began texting old friends and former associates in the UK asking for advice, which suggested to many people that he was rethinking his future.
At the time, a source said, “He’s clearly reaching out, thinking, ‘I need to do something different because what I am doing is not working.’”
The strain on William
William, 43, has been able to get on with his life, including dealing with his wife Catherine’s cancer diagnosis, without worrying about Harry thanks to their 8000km distance. But if his brother returns to the family fold and spends more time in the UK, that could take a toll on William’s mental health.
“For some time now, William’s anger has cooled to the point of being indifferent over his brother, which was healthy for his mental wellbeing,” says the insider.
“William had got to the stage where Harry was a ‘non-person’, he had fallen so far beneath his radar as to have disappeared from his mind altogether.”
Old wounds reopened
William’s long-standing anger towards his brother was inflamed by allegations Harry made against the royal family, particularly in his interview with Oprah Winfrey, then his memoir Spare, for example, his claim family members leaked stories about him and Meghan, 44, to the media. Now comments Harry made in his interview with a UK journalist after his recent trip home may have caused more upset.
Asked about his book and the Oprah interview, Harry said he knew speaking out in them annoyed “some people”, but he did it to get his side of the story across.
“It is not about revenge – it’s about accountability.”
Setting the record straight
The book “was a series of corrections to stories already out there”, Harry said.
“One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.” He added, “I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public. It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear.”
Harry said he doesn’t want to prolong any divisions with his family, but in a comment that may have been aimed at his brother, he added, “You cannot have reconciliation before you have truth.”
