The long-awaited reunion between King Charles and Prince Harry over the weekend has been labelled a “make-or-break” moment for the father and son, with one major issue still threatening a full reconciliation.
Prince Harry has been in the United Kingdom this week to attend promotional events ahead of the 2027 Invictus Games.
The Duke of Sussex is reported to have reunited with his father, King Charles, on Friday, along with his wife, Meghan Markle and two children, Archie and Lilibet.
The private meeting took place at one of the King’s private residences, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, an area in the English countryside.
A royal commentator has revealed the “make-or-break” reunion does not mean King Charles is treating his youngest son’s public criticism directed at the royal family as water under the bridge.
BBC’s former royal correspondent Jennie Bond wrote in The i Paper that a “lack of trust” is the main problem still lingering between Harry and the King, according to Express UK.
Although the reunion may mark a new chapter between the two, Bond said the lack of trust remains a “critical issue”.
“Their end-of-term report would surely read: ‘Must do better.’ Trust – or rather a lack of it – between the two camps is still a critical issue,” Bond wrote.
“This weekend could be a make-or-break moment in the chequered relationship between Harry and his dad.”
Since stepping back as working royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have repeatedly criticised the royal family through television interviews, documentaries and Harry’s memoir.
The couple previously alluded to the royal family’s concerns about their firstborn son Archie’s skin colour in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The Duke of Sussex then published a tell-all memoir, Spare, which aired the monarchy’s dirty laundry, including an alleged physical spat between him and his brother, Prince William.
In Spare, the Duke of Sussex alleged that his brother confronted him at his then-residence, Nottingham Cottage, in 2019, where the future King called Harry’s wife, Meghan, “difficult,” “rude”, and “abrasive”.
The argument saw Harry accuse William of “parroting the press narrative”, which allegedly saw the future King erupt into name-calling aimed at his younger brother.
According to the Duke of Sussex, he tried to calm his brother down during the tense encounter, offering him a glass of water to diffuse the situation.
“He set down the water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast,” Harry wrote.
“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”
While King Charles was seemingly able to put aside his grievances to reunite with his son, allowing him to see his grandchildren for the first time since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022, the same cannot be said for Prince William.
There have been no reported plans for a meeting between the brothers, although they carried out separate engagements during the week while being only kilometres apart.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
