Prince Harry meets King Charles for first time in over a year

Prince Harry has met his father King Charles at Clarence House in London, their first face to face meeting since February 2024.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that the King had a private tea with his son, the Duke of Sussex, during a visit to the royal residence that lasted about 50 minutes.

Afterwards he said of the King “yes, he’s great” in response to reporters’ questions.

The meeting will be seen as a first step in improving relations between father and son and building trust in what has seemed a deep family rift.

The King travelled down to London from Scotland on Wednesday afternoon. Prince Harry has been in the UK this week for charity events.

Prince Harry had spoken emotionally in a BBC interview in May about wanting to rebuild relationships, saying: “I would love a reconciliation with my family.”

The last time that they were together was soon after the King’s cancer diagnosis last year, with Prince Harry flying to the UK for a brief meeting.

There have been visits to the UK by the prince since then, including for court cases, but he had not seen his father, in what has seemed a sometimes difficult relationship.

After Prince Harry had been driven away to his next event, the Palace said it would not provide any further comment on the private meeting.

The prince arrived back in the UK on Monday and has carried out a series of charity events in London and Nottingham – against a background of questions about whether there would be a meeting with his father.

He will be leaving the UK on Thursday, returning to the US to see Meghan and their children, who did not come on this trip.

Prince Harry has previously voiced his frustration at not being able to talk to his father, particularly when there were concerns about the King’s health.

“There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious,” Harry said in his BBC interview.

The meeting between the King and Prince Harry comes after growing rumours of efforts to resolve the family divide.

Representatives of Prince Harry and Buckingham Palace had been photographed together in a meeting in London in July, producing newspaper headlines about a “peace summit”.

But there have been no signs of Prince Harry meeting Prince William during this week, with the brothers carrying out separate arrangements.

On Monday, Prince Harry had laid a wreath at the grave of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on the third anniversary of her death.

Less than 10 miles away, Prince William and Catherine had attended a Women’s Institute meeting honouring the memory of the late Queen.