In the days since the long-awaited reunion between the Sussex family and King Charles took place, there have been numerous insights into what happened during and in the lead-up to the big day.
Now, a new report suggests the meeting, which occurred at King Charles’ country home Highgrove, was so last-minute Queen Camilla had to ‘drop everything’ and drive there so she could offer “moral support” to the monarch.
Queen Camilla reportedly raced to be by King Charles’ side during his meeting with the Sussexes. AP
After weeks of speculation and back and forth, Buckingham Palace confirmed the King and Queen hosted Prince Harry, Meghan and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet at Highgrove House last Friday, UK time.
The Palace described the meeting at the King’s private home in Gloucestershire as a “private family occasion”, per the BBC.
It was the first time King Charles had seen Meghan and their two children for four years.
He last met Prince Harry at Clarence House in London in September 2025, which many saw as a first step in a reunion with the whole family.
The Sussex family had not been together in the UK since June 2022, during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to the UK in September of that year for a series of engagements, which coincided with the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Now, new details have emerged about the most recent meeting, with Vanity Fair revealing Queen Camilla was at her private home, Ray Mill House estate, and drove to Highgrove for the reunion in “quite a hurry”.
The meeting, which reportedly lasted just one hour, was shrouded in secrecy, with a source close to the King telling Vanity Fair it was “completely cloak-and-dagger” and “orchestrated by the King” so news did not leak beforehand.
Harry and Meghan pitcured at an event in London during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022. Getty
“The King wanted to see Harry and the children,” the insider said.
“A time was agreed for the Sussexes to come to Highgrove on Friday afternoon, and it was uncharacteristically last minute for the King.
“Everyone was sworn to secrecy so that the meeting could remain private.”
The outlet also reported the King had “sworn his youngest son and daughter-in-law to secrecy”, and insisted that no details about the meeting were leaked beforehand.
Charles “went to great lengths” to keep the meeting a secret and only told Camilla “so that she could be by his side” the outlet said.
It also claimed not even Prince William, who owns Highgrove as part of his Duchy of Cornwall land holdings, was aware of the meeting before it took place.
The insider further claimed the meeting only took place after “calls from a rather frantic Harry to his father’s aides, trying to make this happen”.
The reunion was only confirmed by Buckingham Palace after the meeting had taken place and the Sussex family had slipped away undetected.
Meanwhile, a source told Vanity Fair, Harry and Meghan were “delighted” to have pulled off the meeting, which was almost cancelled after Meghan and the children elected to stay away from London after failing to get police protection.
People reported today Camilla’s attendance at the reunion was necessary to send a message to the Sussexes.
Royal author Catherine Mayer told the publication the Queen was a “non-negotiable part of Charles’ life”.
King Charles has been largely estranged from his youngest son since he left the UK in 2020. Samir Hussein/WireImage
“There is no reconciliation with him without her,” she said.
However, another report in People quoted a source who knows Harry and Meghan and said the meeting was not as rosy as it seemed.
The outlet quoted a source who said the duchess would have felt “humiliated” watching the public back-and-forth. It quoted another source who said Meghan felt “a lot of sadness” over how the week unfolded.
Meanwhile, Yahoo reported Meghan no longer wanted to pursue a relationship with her royal in-laws after feeling bruised from the weeks of back and forth.