Prince Harry UK visit ends without seeing Prince William

LONDON – Prince William crammed in a lot of activities last week. The royal visited a school, rode a funicular railway, played crazy golf, talked to fishermen about the threat of warming seas, won a charity polo match and topped it all off with a family visit to Wimbledon.

His busy schedule had one glaring omission: reuniting with his brother.

Prince Harry, who now lives in California, was only on British soil for a short while. In a surprise twist July 10, Buckingham Palace told the BBC that Meghan, Harry and their children had met their grandfather King Charles and Queen Camilla after four years apart.

No photos have been shared of the reunion, which took place at Highgrove, a private royal country residence in Gloucestershire, England. The meeting was widely interpreted as a step in the right direction for healing the fractured relationship between Harry and his father, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024.

While the king, 77, made time to meet with his estranged younger son, there was no olive branch in sight for the brothers, who at one point last week were just 12 miles apart.

On July 7, William visited the London Welsh School in West London, while, not so far away, Harry attended an event at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Despite overlapping in the same city they were raised in, Diana’s boys did not meet. The brothers, once close siblings who did almost everything together, have only seen each other a handful of times in the last few years – mostly for funerals, and huge national events like the king’s coronation.

Harry spent much of his time back in the United Kingdom on his own, with wife Meghan, 44, only joining him with their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, once he had left London. Originally they were meant to accompany Harry on the entirety of the visit but that plan changed following a fallout over security arrangements for the Sussexes.

The rift between Harry and the rest of the royal family worsened after Harry and Meghan left Britain in 2020. The pair sparked controversy and some outrage as they declared they would step back from their roles within the royal family. They later went on to give an explosive interview to Oprah Winfrey, alleging racism within the royal family and indifference to Meghan’s suicidal pleas for help.

Harry’s 2023 autobiography “Spare,” may also have played a part in William’s decision not to meet his brother. In the book, Harry accused William of assaulting him during an argument over Meghan in 2019. He also noted that their rift had been bubbling under the surface for years.