A Brief but Meaningful Visit

Charlotte Griffiths, editor-at-large at The Mail on Sunday, explained that the meeting was deliberately low-key. “Harry had a meeting in London this morning and then made sure he kept his schedule completely clear so that he could see his father at a moment’s notice,” she told Yahoo!. “It was a last-minute diary plan—it wasn’t in Harry’s diary—but perhaps that’s because he was nervous about leaks. He was prepared to drop everything to see his father and he let that be known to the palace.”

Though the meeting lasted just 54 minutes due to the King’s full schedule and Harry’s own engagement that evening, royal watchers described it as “significant.”

The Question of Trust

Whether this reunion signals the start of a true reconciliation remains uncertain. A source told Vanity Fair: “The King has always left the door open for Harry to come back to Britain. Charles genuinely misses him and it pains him that there is a rift, but the ball is in Harry’s court. If details of their meeting are leaked, then it will be a short-lived reconciliation. The issue of trust is very important to the King, and has been breached in the past. Harry has to prove he can keep the conversations between them private if he wants to really have a relationship with his father.”

A Step Toward Healing

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told The Sun that the reunion was both “a positive step, but a necessary step.” She explained: “Charles had to see his son at some point. He isn’t going to get any younger, and he wants to meet his grandchildren, as a family man and father. For this entire trip, Harry has been trying very hard to get on everyone’s good side with events and donations.”

She added: “That he is willing to welcome Prince Harry into his home shows Charles’s soft side.”