Prince Harry And King Charles’ Meeting Labeled A ‘Massive Step’ Toward Reconciliation

Prince Harry^[1] was in the U.K. last week, where he met with his father, King Charles^[2], and royal sources have now said that his reconciliation bid with the royal family may finally be possible.

Queen Camilla^[3]‘s absence from the meeting has prompted observers to think that the duke has taken a “massive step” towards reuniting with his father, despite the disturbing comments he made about her in his memoir, “Spare.”

Prince Harry also weighed in on the disturbing claims he made in his book, saying his “conscience is clear” and that he did not air his “dirty linen in public.”

Harry’s effort to settle his long-standing rift with the royal family seems to be closer than ever following the meeting with his estranged father, King Charles, in London last week.

The Duke of Sussex was on a 4-day visit to his home country, where he took part in some charity engagements and also had a private tea with his father for more than 50 minutes.

The meeting was their first contact in 19 months since Harry made a brief dash to the U.K. in February last year upon hearing of Charles’ cancer diagnosis.

Now, according to royal insiders, the father-son reunion is a “massive step” towards building trust, with reports suggesting Charles is open to a reconciliation as he wants to meet his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

“It’s a massive step in the right direction,” Queen Elizabeth’s former spokeswoman Ailsa Anderson told People Magazine^[4]. “It’s a building of trust.”

One telltale sign that both sides could be prepared to extend and accept an olive branch is Queen Camilla’s absence from Harry’s private meeting with his father.

Harry and his stepmother’s relationship has been strained since he accused her of playing “the long game, a campaign aimed at marriage and eventually the Crown.”

The Duke of Sussex also alleged that she leaked stories about the royal family to the British press to maintain her image and boost her popularity.

However, her absence from her husband’s meeting with his son has prompted royal experts to suggest that Harry has seemingly built trust with them.

“The fact that Camilla wasn’t there – when she was before — would show that Harry has signaled something to him that he could be trusted one-on-one,” royal author Sally Bedell Smith explained.

Following his U.K. tour, Harry has expressed hopes of having more such meetings and visits to the country, but if anything concrete emerges, he’ll have to be more discreet about the nature of the meeting.

It’s believed that many royals, including his estranged brother Prince William, are against repairing their strained ties with the Sussexes as they fear details of their meeting would be made public, especially in light of his controversial revelations in “Spare.”

“If we hear nothing, there will be another meeting. If we hear something, it will be a very long time before there is one,” royal author Robert Hardman told People.

Historian Robert Lacey also shared the same sentiment, saying: “It is going to have to be handled with care, as the palace sees it, for the foreseeable future. There’s no reason why, in theory, everything should be on an even keel, but it could go the other way, too.”

It remains to be seen if Harry will be able to mend his relationship with William, his sister-in-law Kate Middleton, and their three children.

The future King has seemed adamant on not reconciling with his brother and reportedly thinks that their father needs to cut him off completely.

“William was right about Andrew, and he is right about Harry,” a source told the Daily Beast^[5]. “Charles is weak. William is anything but weak.”

They continued, “Ultimately, William is a loyal soldier. He respects his father’s rank, and he respects his father’s right to make his own decisions, and he won’t make a fuss if it happens. But he thinks a Harry meeting is a terrible, terrible idea.”

However, Harry doesn’t seem to be bothered as he wants to pay more attention to his father, who is still battling an undisclosed form of cancer.

The Duke of Sussex made a surprise visit to Ukraine after leaving the U.K., where he showed support for wounded veterans as part of his Invictus Games initiative.

Speaking with The^[6]Guardian^[7], Harry implied that he didn’t want his recent meeting with Charles to be a one-off.

He told the news outlet that over the coming year, “the focus really has to be on my dad,” and said that he would like to spend more time in the U.K. and possibly take his children there one day.

“This week has definitely brought that closer,” he added.