The King was reunited with his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, today.
Charles and Camilla are understood to have quietly welcomed Harry, Meghan and their two children to Highgrove for a much-anticipated family meeting.
The private gathering took place at the monarch’s Gloucestershire home, within easy reach of Oxfordshire, where Charles had been carrying out official duties, and Birmingham, where the Duke of Sussex was attending a public engagement.
The meeting was arranged under tight secrecy, even as competing briefings to the media swirled around the visit.
Charles had not seen California-based Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet since 2022, when they were aged three and one.
He last met Harry, 41, in September last year, but earlier this week the palace publicly pushed back after the duke’s PR team incorrectly suggested he had accepted an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace during his UK trip.
In reality, after weeks of declining his father’s offer, Harry is said to have accepted it too late.
Harry arrived in the UK on Monday. The next day, he lost his High Court case alleging wrongdoing by Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, before marking the start of the year-long countdown to his Invictus Games yesterday.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, in a shot posted by Meghan on her Instagram page in December 2025
Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose on the steps as they arrive at a garden party at Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, May 20, 2026
Meghan and the children slipped into Britain unnoticed from their holiday home in Europe.
Buckingham Palace refused to discuss any further details of what was described as a ‘private family occasion’. No images will be released.
While the move will be welcomed as a thaw in family relations, palace courtiers will no doubt be carefully watching the Sussexes next move.
The King and his senior officials had always hoped for a low-key, ‘peaceful’ family reconciliation, but weeks of leaks and briefings by Team Sussex had left them both ‘weary and wary’.
However despite the treatment he has received from Harry – both he and Camilla have been vilified by the prince in multiple interviews and documentaries, not to mention his memoir – sources also described the situation as ‘sad’ for the King who is 77 and still living with cancer.
The meeting came after days of speculation over whether the family reunion would take place.
The occasion was likely an emotional reunion for the King, who last saw his grandchildren – Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five – in person during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
The meeting between Charles and the young prince and princess is likely to be interpreted as a sign of the thawing of the relationship between the King and his son Harry.
Harry said last year that the court’s decision not to reinstate his police security makes ‘it’s impossible for me to bring my family back to the UK.’ Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their children Archie (left) and Lilibet (right)
The then Prince Charles holds a one-year-old Prince Harry in Kensington Palace
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wave to the crowd on their wedding day in May 2018
The pair were estranged for some time especially after Harry criticised his father, stepmother Camilla, brother the Prince of Wales and sister-in-law Kate in his Oprah interview, Netflix documentary, interviews and his autobiography Spare, after stepping down from the working monarchy six years ago.
In February 2024 Harry made a transatlantic dash from his Californian home to Britain to see his father following his cancer diagnosis, which may have led to the first steps in a reconciliation between the pair.
Harry had planned to bring his family to the UK while he undertook a week-long series of events promoting charities and organisations close to his heart including the Invictus Games he founded.
The Duke was in Birmingham as he launched the one-year countdown to the Games at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).
The Duchess of Sussex was not at the event and has not made a prolonged trip to the UK since the late Queen’s funeral that September, apart from occasional stopovers in London for foreign tours.
Security issues prevented Meghan and the children travelling with him on Monday but it appears concerns over safety were mitigated to allow the visit to Highgrove to take place.
It was reported yesterday that Meghan would be travelling to the UK but would not be attending any public events.
The Duke of Sussex takes part in a session of wheelchair rugby in Birmingham today
Prince Harry and Ade Adepitan at the Invictus Games event at the NEC in Birmingham today
The Duke of Sussex and TV presenter Alison Hammond at the NEC in Birmingham this morning
While Harry’s relations with his father appear to have thawed, his rift with William is ongoing and shows no sign of abating.
Harry and Meghan’s meeting with Charles and Camilla took place while William was playing in a charity polo match at Windsor.
Catherine donned a casual, sleeveless gingham dress in a departure from her more typically formal style as she cheered on husband Prince William at Guards Polo Club.
At the Invictus Games launch, Prince Harry won a wheelchair rugby exhibition match and was in his element rushing around the court, crashing into opponents with glee and scoring tries.
In an interview with ITV’s This Morning, presenter Alison Hammond suggested to Harry that his family must appreciate him.
He replied: ‘They don’t tell me every day that they’re proud of me, but yeah I’m proud of them, they’re proud of me – I love my family.’
During the wheelchair rugby match, Harry threw a blind pass over his head straight into the arms of a teammate, who crossed the try-line, a move praised by TV presenter Ade Adepitan who won a bronze with the GB basketball team at the 2004 Paralympics.
The broadcaster, who played on Harry’s team which ran out 7-1 winners, said: ‘He did a no-look pass. Did you see it? A no-look pass over his head.
‘I mean, he said to me at the end “it was just a throw and hope” but I said “style it out, style it out”, that was done on purpose.’
The event was part of a series of showcase sports highlighting events that will be staged when Birmingham hosts the Invictus Games.
William later changed into his navy ‘4’ jersey and jodhpurs as the match got underway
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had their security being revoked by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) back in 2020 after they announced they were moving to the US and stepping back from royal public engagements.
In a bombshell interview with the BBC in May 2025, Harry said that he still loved the UK ‘despite what some people in that country have done’ and added that it was ‘really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland’.
Harry challenged the removal of his security when in the UK during a two-day appeal hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice – which he subsquently lost.
The Duke of Sussex’s barrister had argued that the decison to remove his Met Police armed bodyguards when visiting his native country had left the royal’s life ‘at stake’.
Harry told the BBC at the time: ‘I can’t see a world in which I will be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point and the things they are going to miss is everything. I love my country and always have done…despite what some people in that country have done.
‘So I miss the UK. I miss parts of the UK. Of course I do. I think it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.’
This is a breaking story, more to follow
