Prince Harry has publicly spoken about his desire to reconnect with the royal family, five years after stepping down. The Duke of Sussex left the UK in 2020, and has since settled in the US with his wife, Meghan Markle, and the couple’s two young children, Archie and Lilibet. However, following the news of King Charles’ cancer diagnosis last year, Harry shared that he “would love reconciliation” with his father. During an interview with the BBC following his legal challenge for UK police protection, he explained: “Life is precious, I don’t know how much longer my father has, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff.”
Just last week it was reported that Harry had plans for a royal reunion without Meghan but it seems that a tentative reconciliation could already be underway for the Duke and the King. Per a report published by ITV, on Wednesday a meeting took place between Harry’s Chief Communications Officer, Meredith Maines, the Sussexes UK PR representative Liam Maguire, and King Charles’ Press Secretary, Tobyn Andreae. The trio’s ‘peace summit’ reportedly took place at a private members club near Buckingham Palace.
However, there was a noticeable absence from Prince William’s camp as the Prince of Wales did not have an aide of his own present at the meeting. In recent months, many insiders have spoken about William’s ‘distrust’ of Harry, with some claiming that there’s ‘no turning back’ for the brothers. Others have claimed that Harry is ‘not to be mentioned’ around William, and that the future King has already decided on Harry’s involvement in his coronation when the time comes.
But according to a source, William would likely have been made aware of this meeting ahead of time. The insider told the Daily Mail: “Tobyn Andreae is director of communications for the whole royal household so in that sense could be seen to be representing the Prince and Princess of Wales but, in reality, they run their own operation. Many things have been said that probably everyone regrets but if there is reconciliation, it’s likely that William and Kate are going to be a tougher nut to crack than the King.”
The source continued: “I’d be surprised if William wasn’t aware that it was going ahead. His office and Team Sussex have coordinated in the past, even when the two brothers weren’t speaking, over events for the Diana Award or the unveiling of the Diana statue. But relations have been increasingly strained even at that level between the Sussexes and both the King’s and William’s offices.”
A separate source told The Mirror that it will be far harder for Harry to build bridges with William, as it’s a “different matter entirely, and one which he will find much harder to repair.”
Still, it appears to be a positive move for Harry and the King and could well be the start of the father and son rebuilding their fractured relationship.