King Charles reportedly meets Prince Harry and grandchildren at Highgrove
King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted Prince Harry, Meghan, and their children Archie and Lilibet at Highgrove on Friday, the first such meeting in four years. Harry is in the UK promoting the Invictus Games.
King Charles had a private reunion with his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for the first time in four years at his private residence, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, on Friday afternoon. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, along with their children, were hosted by Charles and Queen Camilla.
The last time Charles saw Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, was during the late Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in 2022. Prince Harry is in the UK this week to promote the Invictus Games. Initial plans for Meghan to join him at some public engagements in Birmingham changed last minute, and she pulled out. It is not known when she arrived in the UK; the couple were understood to have been on holiday in Portugal with their children before coming.
The reunion follows a challenging week for Harry. A High Court judge dismissed his claim against Associated Newspapers over unlawful information gathering on Tuesday. There was also a dispute over taxpayer-funded security for his family in the UK and the withdrawal of an accommodation offer at a royal residence, leading to the Sussexes changing their plans. Harry’s request to stay one night at Buckingham Palace alone was refused.
No details of Friday’s Highgrove meeting have been released, but it marks a step toward healing the public rift between Harry and his father since Harry criticized his family and the monarchy in TV interviews and his memoir “Spare.” The rift with Prince William shows no sign of abating; the reunion occurred the same afternoon William played in a charity polo match at Windsor.
In February 2024, Harry made a transatlantic trip to see his father after the King’s cancer diagnosis, which may have started reconciliation. Harry has spoken of his wish to reunite his children with his father, and they have spoken regularly by phone recently. Meghan has not visited the UK since September 2022, when she and Harry flew in for charity engagements coinciding with Elizabeth II’s death.
