LONDON — Prince Harry arrived in Britain on Monday amid a flurry of speculation about whether he will meet his father, for only the second time since King Charles III's cancer diagnosis in February 2024.
Harry, 40, has a strained relationship with his father and his brother, Prince William, since he and his wife, Meghan Markle, quit front-line royal duties in 2020 and moved to California to launch several media ventures and charitable work.
Things remain frosty with William, the heir to the throne, but there are signs according to royal insiders of a thaw with his father.
William has “made no secret of the fact that he would love to be reunited with his family and his father in particular,” said NBC News royal contributor Emily Nash.
“Now, we think that could be a possibility,” she added. “However, when it comes to Prince William, relations between them are still incredibly strained. They don’t have any direct contact. So I wouldn’t imagine that that would be on the cards this week.”
Harry's first stop was at Windsor, where he laid flowers on the grave of his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
In the evening, as he does every year, he will attend the WellChild Awards, a charity he patronizes that recognizes Britain’s seriously ill children and their caregivers.
These homeland visits are not in themselves uncommon for the prince. He was also back as recently as April for a court case, which he lost. to contest his publicly funded security being downgraded.
But this week’s visit is slightly longer than most previous drop-ins — at four days — potentially giving him time to reunite with Charles despite time being tight, Nash said.
After April's legal fight, Harry revealed that his father “won’t speak to me” because of his complaints about security funding.
“I would love reconciliation with my family," he told the BBC. "There’s no point in continuing to fight people. It would be nice to have that reconciliation part now. If they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them.”
However, there have seen been signs of a rapprochement with Charles, who turns 77 next month and continues to receive treatment for cancer of an unspecified type or severity.
In July, senior aides to Charles and Harry were pictured meeting at the Royal Over-Seas League, a private members club in a central London townhouse between the royal residences of Buckingham and St. James’s palaces.
NBC News’ British partner, Sky News, reported that it was the first meeting of its kind between Meredith Maines, Harry’s chief communications officer, Liam Maguire, who runs Harry and Meghan’s British public relations team, and Tobyn Andrea, Charles' press secretary.
