It appeared innocuous enough: Late on a Wednesday afternoon, a trio of professionals in business attire chatted over drinks while sitting outside at London’s Royal Over-Seas League. After 10 minutes at a table on the private members club’s first-floor garden terrace, the group headed inside to continue their discussions. But the trio’s identities made it clear this was no insignificant get-together, it was a royal summit. Representing King Charles III was Tobyn Andreae, the monarch’s communications secretary. And there on behalf of Charles’ long-estranged son, Prince Harry, was Meredith Maines, the U.S.-based chief communications officer for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well as Liam Maguire, who runs the couple’s public relations team in the U.K.
MEGA
Following a report describing the al fresco July 9 meeting as “a secret peace summit” in a “rapprochement process,” a source confirms to Star that it was indeed a first step toward rebuilding Charles and Harry’s strained and, for the last two years, practically nonexistent relationship amid a royal family feud that’s only intensified since Harry, 40, and his American wife, Meghan Markle, 43, fled Britain for California in 2020. “It’s early stages,” says the source, “but both sides are looking at this meeting between reps as a start, a breaking of the ice.”
According to a July 14 report from Vanity Fair, Harry asked for the liaison while Maines was in London. Star understands her July trip was a routine part of ongoing planning and engagement on behalf of the Sussexes that entailed meeting with their U.K.-based communications team as well as media, stakeholders and senior figures connected to Harry’s patronages. “But Charles wanted the meeting as much as Harry did,” says the source.
Running Out Of Time
It’s a shift for the monarch. It’s believed the last time he saw his younger son was at a 30-minute meeting in London in early 2024 after Charles revealed he’d been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, for which he is still receiving treatment. In a bombshell May interview, Harry claimed his father “won’t speak to me.” Yet, he insisted he “would love reconciliation with my family” despite a long estrangement from his father and brother, Prince William, 43. “There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry mused. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Getty Images
Perhaps Charles got the message. The king’s illness is believed to be incurable, and “Charles sees the possibility that he will not recover,” explains the source. “There’s no doubt that timing is crucial with his health deteriorating. That’s why he finally responded to Harry’s calls, though indirectly. He doesn’t want to leave things in this broken state.”
Nothing is guaranteed. While it’s been reported that Harry longs to see members of the royal family attend his beloved Invictus Games, an international sporting competition for wounded military veterans and service members, in 2027 in Birmingham, England, that’s a big ask. “Right now, the feeling is both Charles and Harry want to move forward to a point where they can at least sit down face-to-face.”
Getty Images
Days before the purported summit, a hint that Charles’ position was shifting emerged in one prominent U.K. newspaper. On June 27, The Telegraph reported that the king’s evolving funeral plans include his wish for Harry, Meghan and their children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, to participate, with his younger son expected to walk alongside his brother, who would by then be King William V, in a casket procession through London. The plans also ask all four Sussexes to attend not only the family vigil that takes place during a deceased monarch’s lying in state at Westminster Hall but also the funeral service at Westminster Abbey and Charles’ committal in the family crypt at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
The Heir’s Wrath
Myriad roadblocks to a reunion remain, however. Not least William’s feelings on the matter. Royal watchers couldn’t help but point out that no representative from the Prince of Wales’ camp attended the July 9 meeting, which sparked speculation about how much — or even if — William knew about it. While some outlets reported that Charles wouldn’t have kept such crucial information from his heir, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams disagreed, telling one outlet, “the king would never have made these moves without William’s support and understanding.” Nonetheless, Star’s source asserts that the heir to the throne was left out and “likely found out about it after the fact” amid the wary king’s fears he could have tried to interfere.
That, the source explains, is because “Charles knows William won’t have anything to do with Harry and won’t budge an inch.” As Star and other outlets have previously reported, William has “made it known he intends to strip Harry and Meghan of their [His/Her Royal Highness] titles” when he’s king, the source adds.
Getty Images
Future queen Kate, 43, has publicly supported her husband William but privately, says the source, “she’s torn.” Despite enduring criticism from the Sussexes, who’ve detailed unflattering and damaging private conversations and arguments between their families in interviews, a 2022 Netflix series and Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare, “she believes the monarchy would benefit if William and Harry ended their rift,” claims the source. It would also “be better for Charles’ legacy and for the children,” adds the source, noting that Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, “barely know their cousins.”
Uncertain Future
The Waleses aren’t the only ones reeling. “Meghan has been kept out of the loop for the most part,” a second insider tells Star. “She understands Harry’s urgency to mend fences with his father, but she’s alarmed.” Accustomed to being in control, she’s questioned what it could mean for the future of their marriage to reforge a connection to the same people she and Harry previously claimed tacitly sanctioned palace courtiers’ attacks on them in the U.K. press leading them to leave Britain in 2020. “She must be worried the royals could try to lure Harry back and nudge her out,” adds the second insider.
MEGA
Though William’s reign may come sooner than many anticipated, he’s not king yet. As far as the Sussex problem is concerned, “Charles has the power to change things,” says the source, who believes he wants to bridge the divide between The Firm and Harry. “But it’s still a very tenuous situation. If either side stands his ground or becomes defensive,” adds the source, “it could all come tumbling down.”