King Charles held a top secret reunion with his son Prince Harry, 41, daughter-in-law Meghan Markle, 44, and their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, whom the 77-year-old monarch had not seen in four years. The private meeting, which also included Queen Camilla, took place at Highgrove House, Charles’ country residence, according to Buckingham Palace.
Despite the King’s efforts to keep the meeting under wraps, Meghan’s latest move is set to send shockwaves through the Palace, a royal commentator has claimed. It comes after the Sussexes shared family pictures with the kids after a visit to Princess Diana’s childhood home and final resting place. The Sussexes arrived in the UK for their “summer holidays”, with Harry landing days before to launch his one-year countdown to his Invictus Games in Birmingham.
TalkTV presenter Mark Dolan spoke to royal biographer Angela Levin about their visit to the Althorp estate, the family home of the late Princess Diana.
Meghan shared a picture of Lilibet, five, walking in the sunshine between the trees, with Harry and Archie, seven, a few paces ahead.
Harry appeared to be carrying bouquets, which has led to the suggestion they were paying tribute at Diana’s burial site. Her grave is on an island in the middle of Oval lake but is off limits to the public.
Angela remarked: “They want to do this series about how Diana died and that is why they were so desperate to come here and stay in the country. They came here to take pictures.”
She claimed: “I’m sure that is the only reason they wanted to come – not to see the king, not to see anything else but to be able to go Althorp and take photographs.”
Host Mark suggested they “couldn’t resist publicising their UK return” and had “to tell the world”.
Angela suggested they should “stop coming back to the UK”.
“They really have to stop them coming to the country and life with us,” she remarked, “We just can’t have it anymore. Absolutely not.”
The property was reportedly closed to the public from July 10 to 11, presumably to allow the family to enjoy Harry’s late mother’s home in privacy.
People reported: “The trip gave Archie and Lilibet the opportunity to spend time at a place so closely tied to their late grandmother, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 when Harry was 12.”