What We Know About King Charles And Prince Harry's Quiet March Meeting
The eyes of much of the United Kingdom and the world were on King Charles III at his coronation. We saw the pomp and pageantry and all kinds of beautiful outfits. We also got to see both of King Charles' sons in attendance but under different circumstances. William, Prince of Wales was sitting on the front row, as befits the fact that he will most likely be the next king, along with his family, minus Prince George who was a page for the coronation. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attended by himself and was seated in the third row, though he may have had a bit of a hard time seeing everything since Princess Anne was sitting in front of him and wearing some tall red feathers in her hat.
And while Prince William and his family were a part of the procession before and after the coronation and waved to the crowds from the famous Buckingham Palace balcony, Harry went to the airport to head back home. There didn't seem to be any conversation between the estranged brothers nor between Harry and his father at the coronation.
But that doesn't mean the king and his son are not on speaking terms. Apparently, when Harry was in London in March, he had a private meeting with his father that may have helped mend some things; here's what we know.
Prince Harry is reportedly back on speaking terms with King Charles
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex visited London in March, and while he was there, he apparently had a meeting with his father King Charles III, as reported by OK!. The quick meeting reportedly went well enough that father and son are on speaking terms again, with the two now speaking on the phone on occasion. Who may have initiated the meeting, we don't know.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" in January, Harry said that he hadn't spoken to his father "in quite awhile." So if they are talking again after a meeting in March, that would definitely seem like it's a positive step towards mending the strained family relationship. It was also in that interview that Harry talked about the potential for reconciliation, noting that it could only happen if there was "a constructive conversation, one that can happen in private, that doesn't get leaked."
Harry has said that Queen Camilla leaked negative stories about him and Meghan Markle to the press, per The Cut. So his hope and expectations for privacy for any conversations with his family seem very much rooted in having been burned before.
Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in June
Leaks to the media by the royal family are a part of the reason that Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, was in London in March; it wasn't just to speak with his father. He was in town in connection with a lawsuit against Associated Papers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, according to Vanity Fair. He and other big names, including Elton John, have filed suit in regards to invasion of privacy and illegal acquiring of information. That isn't the only lawsuit that Harry and Meghan Markle have filed against the British media. And they've been fairly successful in their filings, for example in 2021, a court ruled in Meghan's favor in a lawsuit against Associated Papers for publishing a part of the letter that she wrote to her estranged father Thomas Markle. And Harry is expected back in the U.K. in June to testify in regards to a lawsuit he filed against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over phone hacking, per Reuters.
It's possible that Harry may arrange to speak with his father when he visits in June since they are now reportedly talking again. But it's not only the king that Harry has had issues with in his family; the rift still continues between Harry and his brother William, Prince of Wales. A meeting between the two of them might be harder to come by.