King Charles III was all smiles as he was seen with Queen Camilla Tuesday, being driven away from his London home where the ailing monarch reportedly enjoyed a brief private meeting with his son Prince Harry.
Charles’ meeting with Harry, who is estranged from most everyone else in the royal family, came after the Duke of Sussex “immediately” flew overnight from California, after learning that his 75-year-old father had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer that was discovered during earlier treatment for an enlarged prostate.
It’s not known what father and son discussed during their meeting, which lasted less than an hour. But many royal observers hope that their initial brief reunion signals a warming of relations between the two and the first step in a rapprochement between Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, and other members of the royal family.
A car carrying Prince Harry is driven to Clarence House in London on February 6, 2024. King Charles III’s estranged son Prince Harry reportedly arrived in London on Tuesday after his father’s diagnosis of cancer, which doctors “caught early”. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
Harry’s decision to fly home “so immediately” after receiving this “serious news,” personally from his father, “is proof that the bond between father and son remains strong,” The Telegraph’s royal correspondent India Taggart reported. Harry flew to the U.K. on his own leaving his wife, Meghan Markle, at home in Montecito with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
“Many have begun to speculate that (the king’s cancer diagnosis) may present an opportunity for a reconciliation that the Duke of Sussex has said so recently that he wants with his family but has thus far remained elusive,” Taggart said.
The reconciliation may be helped by the fact that Charles called Harry personally to let him know he had cancer — despite the 5,000-mile distance and the eight-hour time difference. Charles reportedly also let Harry know about the diagnosis at the same time that he informed his older son William, who is his heir to the throne, and his three siblings.
Of all senior members of the royal family, only Charles has reportedly stayed in contact with Harry and Meghan, and only intermittently, according to The Telegraph. The king and his son have barely spoken since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, and Harry made only “the most fleeting of appearances” in London for Charles’ coronation in 2023, The Telegraph also said. There also was no contact between the two when Harry celebrated his 39th birthday in September.
After Harry and his American wife gave up royal duties and moved to California in 2020, they became known for lobbing high-profile attacks against the institution of the monarchy in interviews, in Harry’s memoir “Spare” and in the couple’s 2022 Netflix documentary. In “Spare,” Harry also revealed details of contentious private moments with William and alleged that Camilla had leaked negative stories about him to the U.K. tabloids bolster her own public image.
As recently as November, Harry and Meghan’s sympathetic biographer, Omid Scobie, published a book, “Endgame,” which revived allegations made by Harry and Meghan in 2021 that certain family members made racist — or unconsciously biased — comments about what their son Archie would look like when he was born because Meghan is biracial. A Dutch translation of the book revealed that the two family members who allegedly had such conversations about Archie were the king and William’s wife, Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
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Royal journalists accused Harry and Meghan of being complicit in Scobie’s book, especially after the couple refused to publicly distance themselves from some of Scobie’s more incendiary allegations. Through anonymous spokespeople, though, Harry and Meghan tried to shut down speculation that they cooperated with the book.
Meanwhile, the couple have let it be known that Harry has tried to extend “olive branches” to his family in recent months, including reaching out to the king to wish him a 75th birthday, The Telegraph reported.
It isn’t immediately known how long Harry will stay in the U.K., or where. But The Telegraph said he is “presumably” expected to spend most of his time in his home country with his father.
After Charles and Camilla were driven away from Clarence House, their London home, they headed to Buckingham Palace, where they caught a helicopter ride to the royal family’s Sandringham country estate.
The king was said to be in his “usual good form” after undergoing his first treatment for cancer, but was a “little frustrated” that he’ll have to step back from some of his public-facing duties for the immediate future, The Telegraph reported. He’s also concerned about the impact that his treatment will have on others. He is expected to continue working from home and his optimistic about his chances for recovery.
