'They Couldn't Do Anything They Wanted': Harry & Meghan's Meeting With Charles Didn't Go As Expected

Forgiveness is more of a process than an outcome, and reconciling doesn't inherently mean that things will go back to the way they were prior to the fallout. Despite some tense finger-pointing prior to Prince Harry's July 2026 U.K. visit, there seemed to be genuine efforts from both King Charles III and Harry to compromise and respect boundaries. Especially following the much-anticipated reunion between Harry and Meghan Markle's children, Archie and Lilibet, and their grandfather, issues appeared to have been resolved.

Sources told Vanity Fair that the family's visit to Highgrove House on July 10 was kept an absolute secret — even from William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales. One insider close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex disclosed, "They were at Highgrove for an hour or so, but don't expect to hear anything about what was said." The sources for the outlet repeatedly emphasized the agreement made upon Charles' request for everything to remain totally under wraps, with one describing it as "watertight." According to a TalkTV report from July 14, Charles completely had the upper hand when it came to the terms of their meeting. 

Angela Levin, a royal biographer, explained to host Jeremy Kyle that none of Harry and Markle's demands prior to the trip had been met. "So really, I was quite shocked the King saw them ... but actually thinking about it and looking things up, it was quite clever because they couldn't do anything they wanted," Levin said. "Absolutely nothing." It's clear that despite wanting to make amends, the royals are not going to let the Sussexes have their cake and eat it too.

While an insider claimed to Vanity Fair that, "It was a top-secret arrangement and they pulled it off, and frankly [Prince Harry and Meghan Markle] are delighted about that," Angela Levin reported that the Duchess of Sussex was apparently deeply unhappy with the outcome of the July 10 visit.

She described Markle as "furious," saying, "When they knew they were going to come to the U.K. and London, she sent a list of what she wanted done for her at Buckingham Palace; can you believe that?" One of her and Harry's demands had supposedly been that Harry's stepmother, Queen Camilla, would not be present during their short meeting with the king — a wish that evidently went ungranted. The queen had reportedly been at her Ray Mill House estate at the time, quickly rushing over to Highgrove House to attend the meeting. A source told Vanity Fair, "Charles wanted Camilla to be there for moral support and because she has been a pillar of strength for him throughout all the drama with Harry, and she dropped everything."

Levin explained, " ... she was there just to make sure everything was calm, because Harry could have gone shouting and Camilla wouldn't be able to say what she would want to say." While it's uncertain if the king had been anticipating a shouting match between him and his son, the fact that Camilla was invited to be by his side suggests that he was not keen on meeting with them alone, even if it reportedly went against one of Harry and Markle's many wishes.