King Charles and Prince Harry (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry’s mood in the hours before his long-awaited reunion with King Charles has been revealed, after the Duke of Sussex was spotted carrying out a public engagement ahead of the private family meeting.
The encounter at the King’s Highgrove estate took place on Friday, July 10, away from the cameras, with no official photographs released. But royal insiders have now shared fresh details about Harry’s state of mind before and after the emotional reunion.
It comes after the King was reunited with his grandchildren when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited the head of state’s Gloucestershire country home, it is understood.
Charles welcomed Meghan and Harry’s children, Archie and Lilibet, to Highgrove during the afternoon after days of speculation over whether the family meeting would take place. Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, last saw their grandfather in person during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
It is understood Queen Camilla, who has a private home close to the King’s Gloucestershire residence, was also present. The meeting between Charles and the young prince and princess is likely to be viewed as another step towards repairing the relationship between the King and his youngest son.
Speaking on The Royals with Roya and Kate podcast, royal editor Roya Nikkhah revealed Harry had appeared in high spirits while attending an Invictus Games engagement at Birmingham’s NEC on the Friday, knowing the family reunion was due to take place the following day.
She said: “What was interesting, I thought, was his demeanor when he was at Birmingham on Friday, when he clearly knew this meeting was going to happen. He was going to go from the NEC to Warwickshire. He seemed, and people who saw him there were like, he was pretty buzzing. He always is with Invictus, but he really was.”
Roya said she later spoke to a member of Harry’s team after the meeting at Highgrove, who indicated the duke had deliberately kept the details private.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Image: Getty)
“There was no leaking of what happened. There was no emotional response like we have had previously from Harry when he comes out to a meeting and says, ‘I don’t know how much longer my father’s got,'” she said.
Instead, Roya said she was told Harry was “energized, buoyed, very happy” following the reunion.
“So he was clearly delighted that it took place, regardless of all the drama and all the fighting between him and his family and his father. I think there is something about Harry being able to reintroduce his children, who’ve not seen their grandfather for four years,” she added.
Podcast co-host Kate Mansey noted that Archie and Lilibet had not visited Britain since the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, while Meghan’s last trip to the UK was for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral later that year.
Reflecting on the significance of the reunion, Kate said: “Four years have gone by. A lot has been said from Montecito about the King, about Camilla, about the rest of the family. It would not have been an easy meeting.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla (Image: Getty)
Harry’s relationship with Charles has been strained since he and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and subsequently made a series of public criticisms of the Royal Family through their Oprah Winfrey interview, Netflix documentary, television appearances and Harry’s memoir Spare.
His rift with the Prince of Wales also remains unresolved, with William taking part in a charity polo match at Windsor on the same afternoon the Highgrove reunion took place.
In February 2024, Harry travelled from California to Britain shortly after Charles announced his cancer diagnosis, a visit widely seen as the first step towards reconciliation.
Harry had planned for Meghan and their children to join him during a week of engagements supporting charities and organisations close to his heart, including the Invictus Games. While security concerns initially prevented them from travelling together at the start of the visit, it appears those issues were resolved in time for the family gathering at Highgrove.