In a step toward mending one of the world’s most-followed family feuds, Prince Harry, his wife and their two children met for the first time in years with Harry’s father, King Charles III, and Queen Camilla, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.
The meeting answered questions that had been swirling all week about a potential reunion between the British king and his estranged second son. In 2020, Harry and his American-born wife, Meghan, stepped down from their royal duties, lost their “royal highness” titles and moved to the United States.
Friday’s visit was a sign of a détente between Harry and his father. Harry had not returned to Britain with wife and children since Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022. Harry had visited his father in Britain by himself last fall.
The visit this week, officially to promote Harry’s charity competition for military veterans, had been overshadowed by confusion, as efforts to mend family relations appeared to exacerbate them instead. Rifts emerged over where the family would stay and who would pay for their security.
The prince has been embroiled in a yearslong battle with the British authorities since they ruled that he and Meghan, after stepping down from royal duties, no longer qualified for publicly financed protection in Britain.
Harry, 41, who arrived in Britain Monday evening, lives in California with Meghan, 44, and their children, Archie and Lilibet. It was the first time in several years that Charles, 77, and his grandchildren, aged 7 and 5, met in person.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nytimes.com ’
