King Charles Held Secret Talks With Another Royal Minutes Before Meeting Prince Harry
By now, royal fans have heard that Prince Harry and King Charles had a meeting at the monarch’s London residence. But shortly before the Duke of Sussex was seen arriving on Sept. 10, another royal family member was seen leaving Clarence House.
Here’s which royal the king hosted first and what Harry shared when asked about the private father-son meeting.
The royal King Charles met with before Prince Harry
Many believed that the king would fill his oldest son, Prince William, in before any meeting he planned with Harry. But if he did, it wasn’t in person as the Prince of Wales was not seen coming or going from Clarence House the same day as Harry.
The royal family member who was seen leaving just minutes before Harry arrived was Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (formerly the Countess of Wessex).
The specifics of King Charles’ meeting with his sister-in-law before his youngest son are unknown, but many believe it had to do with Sophie’s recent four-day trip to Canada. While there, the duchess carried out engagements focused on British-Canadian links and charity work, which the monarch would be updated on.
If there were any royals around when King Charles and Harry met, it would have been Queen Camilla, who was present last time Harry visited Clarence House following his father’s cancer diagnosis. That February 2024 visit was said to be unexpected and something the royals reportedly didn’t appreciate as Harry dropped in unannounced, leading to speculation that it was a PR move for the duke.
At the time, RadarOnline reported that a courtier revealed: “Her Majesty was furious Harry flew in from his ritzy California home without getting palace approval — and came with an attitude. I’m told Camilla was outraged.” They added that the queen could not take Harry “using her husband’s cancer as a ‘loving son’ for PR.”
What the duke said about his father just hours after their meeting
Following a visit to Imperial College London’s Centre for Blast Injury Studies in White City, Prince Harry was seen arriving at Clarence House at 5:20 p.m. local time.
The royal reunion is one that many expected to happen after it was announced that the prince was making a solo trip to the U.K. for Well Child and other charity events. That’s because in May, Harry insisted that he wanted a reconciliation with his dad during a bombshell interview after losing his security appeal with the Home Office.
“I would love a reconciliation with my family,” he said. “I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff … but it would be nice to reconcile.”
The meeting on Wednesday was brief, lasting just over 50 minutes. The men had tea together, and what they discussed has not been leaked or made public. But because the duke has a history of spilling details on what’s said behind closed doors, reporters asked him that evening about his father at an Invictus reception, to which Harry replied: “Yes, he’s great, thank you.”
