LONDON—It was a fleeting get together over a cup of tea.
PREMIUM Britain’s Prince Harry, center, in London on Wednesday.
But when Prince Harry drove out of Clarence House on Wednesday afternoon having spent under an hour with King Charles, it signaled a thaw in a yearlong royal standoff between a father and his estranged son.
The previous time the two met in person was around 18 months ago. The King’s second son has been in the royal bad books since he and his American wife Meghan Markle quit “the firm” to move stateside in 2020, from where he launched repeated broadsides at his family and Buckingham Palace courtiers. When the Duke of Sussex last saw Charles in London in February 2024, he was granted a 30 minute audience with his father who had recently been diagnosed with cancer.
Prince Harry has since expressed a desire to build bridges, and officials from both his office and the king’s household were photographed meeting earlier this summer. So when a Range Rover carrying Prince Harry was photographed entering King Charles’s residence at Clarence House on Wednesday afternoon, it was taken as a sign that the British monarch was willing to countenance burying the hatchet. The Duke of Sussex was driven back out of Clarence House about 54 minutes later. Buckingham Palace later confirmed the meeting over a “private tea” had taken place, and a spokeswoman for Prince Harry declined to comment further.
It is unclear how much further this rapprochement will go. “There’s no point continuing to fight any more—life is precious,” Prince Harry told the BBC earlier this year, adding that he didn’t know how much longer his father had to live. However, Buckingham Palace officials still fret that Harry will share sensitive personal information about the King with the press—based on his record of spilling royal secrets.
Prince William, meanwhile, still won’t talk to Harry after the prince dished the dirt on their relationship in his biography “Spare.” This week, the two siblings attended events in the U.K. just 15-minute drives from one another but didn’t meet.
Prince Harry and his father at the funeral proession for Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Prince Harry was in London for a four-day visit to promote several charities he is involved with. His wife, the Duchess of Sussex, stayed in the U.S. Harry has said it isn’t safe for his family to travel to the U.K. after the government denied the couple state-funded police protection afforded to other royals. Harry challenged the decision in court and lost.
The circumstances of case angered palace officials in part because the prince said his father could intervene to resolve the case, which would have been a breach of the monarch’s political neutrality.
The prince has been to the U.K. several times in the past year, mainly to attend private events or court cases he is bringing against tabloids.
Prince Harry’s departure from royal duties turned into a public-relations nightmare for the royal family. The Duchess of Sussex alleged during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that the family had made racist remarks to her. This was followed by a Netflix documentary made by the couple which traced a direct line between the royal family and slavery. Then in 2023 came “Spare,” Prince Harry’s bestselling memoir about a life in waiting. The House of Windsor’s sense of propriety was shucked in favor of juicy details—including ones of Harry’s first time having sex, experiencing panic attacks and Prince William pushing him to the floor during an argument. The book sold millions of copies.
“There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” he told the BBC back in May, adding that he had now forgiven them.
Write to Max Colchester at Max.Colchester@wsj.com
After 18 Months, Prince Harry and King Charles Meet in Person 
Get the latest headlines from US news and global updates from Pakistan, Nepal, UK, Bangladesh, and Russia get all the latest headlines in one place with including Nepal Protest and Charlie Kirk shootingon Hindustan Times. Get the latest headlines from US news and global updates from Pakistan, Nepal, UK, Bangladesh, and Russia get all the latest headlines in one place with including Nepal Protest and Charlie Kirk shootingon Hindustan Times. News / World News / After 18 Months, Prince Harry and King Charles Meet in Person
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