Inside Prince Harry's 53-minute meeting with King Charles: Kisses, a Meghan cameo and more
A private Clarence House meeting yields sentimental moments but stops short of reconciliation, underscoring the ongoing terms of the Sandringham Agreement.
Prince Harry’s Sept. 10 meeting with King Charles in London did not produce an official reconciliation, but new details describe sentimental moments and a distinctly formal atmosphere that left the Duke of Sussex feeling more like an official visitor than a family member.
The 53-minute encounter at Clarence House began around 5:22 p.m., with Harry arriving by Land Rover and the two exchanging pleasantries, including kisses on the cheek, before settling into private tea. The Sun reported that Harry presented his father with a framed photo of his young family, including Meghan Markle and their children Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4. In return, Charles was said to give Harry an early 41st birthday gift, the milestone Harry would celebrate on Sept. 15. After the private discussion, Harry left at about 6:14 p.m. for a reception for his Invictus Games.
The outlet described the visit as “distinctly formal,” noting that the mood contrasted with a broader pattern of reconciliation efforts. The Sun also claimed that the King’s door remains open for another private tea when Harry returns to London, even as royal sources emphasized Charles’s commitment to the Sandringham Agreement, which lay out the terms of Harry’s departure from full royal duties in January 2020 and effectively bars a hybrid “half-in, half-out” role for him.
The Sandringham framework has been repeatedly cited by royal insiders as the governing principle for Harry’s involvement with the family. A royal source told the Daily Mail that the King intends to uphold the agreement, underscoring that there cannot be a working-royal position for Harry in a hybrid capacity.
Sources connected to the Sussex camp pushed back against speculation that the reunion was aimed at undermining Prince William’s relationship with their father. Harry’s representatives called the notion “rubbish,” saying there was no plan to drive a wedge between the Prince of Wales and the King and that Harry simply wants to sustain connections with his family while supporting his patronages and charitable work.
The meeting was the first between father and son in 19 months. In the wake of the visit, observers noted a number of personal touches: Harry reportedly shared videos of his children with the monarch, and he told reporters that his father, who had been diagnosed with cancer in 2024, was “doing great.” The Sun reported that the trip back included reflections on family and the causes Harry champions, rather than a signal that he intends to rejoin royal duties.
The reporting around the encounter drew on multiple outlets, including Page Six, which cited unnamed sources describing hugs and tears when Harry first saw his father and portraying the mood as genuinely emotional. Us Weekly, in its coverage, said the reunion had been sparked by a handwritten letter from Harry to Charles expressing a wish to reconnect, and described a mood that felt hopeful to those who attended. The same reports noted that Harry had not seen his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s gravesite during prior visits, a detail that added a personal note to the day’s events.
Harry and Meghan have lived in Montecito, California, since stepping back from full-time royal duties in 2020. Their children, Archie and Lilibet, have not seen King Charles since the Platinum Jubilee in June 2022, due in part to safety concerns raised by the Sussexes. The Sept. 10 meeting thus stands as a significant, but still limited, moment of engagement between Harry and the royal family, absent any formal restoration of royal duties.
Reps for Charles and Harry did not respond to requests for comment from Page Six or other outlets. The events, as described by multiple sources, reflect an ongoing balancing act: Harry seeks a connection with his family and a platform to support his charitable work, while Charles maintains the framework set out in the Sandringham Agreement that limits any return to full royal status.
A broader context remains: the couple’s move to Southern California continues to shape access to the inner workings of the royal family and the security calculus around interactions with senior royals. As observers watch for any new private conversations, Friday’s reports underscore that the path to a broader reconciliation remains uncertain and heavily conditioned by established royal protocol.