Prince Harry was last together with King Charles III more than one year before claiming his father would not speak to him.
Shortly after Buckingham Palace announced Charles’ diagnosis with an undisclosed type of cancer in February 2024, Us Weekly confirmed that Harry, now 40, traveled to the U.K. to see his father.
Photos at the time showed a car transporting Harry from London’s Heathrow Airport to Clarence House. (After stepping down as senior working royals, Harry and wife Meghan Markle relocated from London to California in early 2020. He subsequently opened up about tensions within his family in TV interviews, his Netflix series Harry and Meghan, and a bombshell 2023 memoir, Spare.)
“I love my family,” Harry said during a Good Morning America appearance that month. “The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that. I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could.”
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Harry confirmed in the interview that he would be returning to London in the near future. “I’ve got other trip plans that will take me through the U.K., or back to the U.K.,” he said. “So, I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can.”
Months later, Harry returned to the U.K. for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games — but did not reunite with Charles, now 76.
“In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not The Duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program,” a spokesperson for Harry confirmed to Us in May 2024.
Prior to this, Harry and Charles were last photographed together at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, also in London, in September 2022. (Elizabeth died at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland earlier that month.)
One year later, Harry and Charles made headlines after the Duke of Sussex sat down with BBC News and discussed their ongoing rift and the monarch’s cancer battle.
“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the outlet on Friday, May 2. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
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Harry also claimed that Charles “won’t speak” to him amid his recent legal battle, where he was fighting to get back his and Meghan’s government-funded security — which they lost when they stepped back from the royal family in 2020. (Harry appeared in court in April to appeal a 2024 decision. U.K. Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos dismissed the appeal on Friday.)
“It would be nice to reconcile. There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” Harry said, noting that he has “forgiven” them.
Harry claimed that he “can’t see a world” where he would bring Meghan and their two kids back to the U.K. (Harry and Meghan, who wed in 2018, share 6-year-old Archie and 3-year-old Lilibet.)
“I love my country, I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done,” he said.
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Days after Harry’s interview, Charles released a statement about unity. The royal family members “are much looking forward to all the week’s VE Day events,” a Buckingham Palace rep shared on Sunday, May 4. “They will unite with the rest of the nation and those across the Commonwealth and wider world in celebrating, commemorating and giving thanks to the wartime generation whose selfless devotion, duty and service should stand as an enduring example to us all — and must never be forgotten.”
While weighing in on the ongoing rift between the father-son duo, royal expert Christopher Andersen exclusively said to Us via email on Tuesday, May 6, “It really does look like Charles is taking the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ axiom to a whole other level, doesn’t it?”
“The King is only hewing to a long-standing royal practice of not dignifying something by commenting on it. The Palace does not want to give oxygen to Harry’s remarks. King Charles has a lot on his plate as it is — there is no upside to his getting into a public quarrel with his son,” Anderson said, noting that Harry decided to go in the “opposite” direction.
