Last week, we saw the long-awaited royal reunion between Prince Harry’s birth family and his own family take place, seemingly against all odds.
Royal expert and author Russell Myers says there were roadblocks to overcome before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their two children privately met with King Charles and Queen Camilla in the UK on Friday.
There were “U-turns” behind the scenes leading up to last week’s royal reunion. Getty Images
“There were U-turns and backtracks, and it will have all added to the complete exasperation of the King and his aides when dealing with Harry,” he told People.
It all seemed a little too good to be true at first, with the taxpayer-funded security the US-based duke had been fighting for for years seemingly being approved, only to be dashed just before their very eyes – days before his young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, were to set foot in their father’s homeland for the first time in four years.
Plans were quickly changed, with Harry, 41, solely taking on the engagements for the countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham that he was meant to attend with wife Meghan.
Meghan was initially forced to stay behind in Portugal with the children due to security concerns. Instagram/@meghan
Instead, she tended to their children in Portugal, where the family had been vacationing.
Finally, on July 10, the family was somewhat reunited. King Charles saw his grandchildren after four years – their last meeting was during the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
In the years since, he had become monarch, been diagnosed with cancer, and recovered from it.
“What was billed as a big homecoming – not only for Harry but potentially for Meghan too – turned into a nightmare,” Myers said.
While Harry has seen his father in the past four years, his two children hadn’t. Samir Hussein/WireImage
“It was further evidence of the fractiousness of Harry’s relationship with the institution.”
At the end of the day, however, the public should remember that there is a family at the heart of this institution.
Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter told nine.com.au ahead of the reunion, “[When] you remove all the pomp and ceremony, you remove everything, this is still a father and a son.”
“I think the King is very aware of his own health crisis, and the fact that geography makes it very complicated and it makes it very difficult for him to be able to see his son.”