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The reunion, when it came, was far more low-key than the headline-dominating drama that preceded it. On July 10 – as an exclusive Chanel event was held in the grounds of King Charles’ Gloucestershire estate – one vehicle containing Prince Harry, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the couple’s kids passed by, undetected by photographers.
The family reunion was underway at last – a happy conclusion to a turbulent week for the King’s youngest son, during which he lost his High Court phone hacking case against the publishers of the Daily Mail and faced embarrassing revelations about his party-loving past.
“There were a large number of cars coming and going from Highgrove for the Chanel event which allowed the Sussexes’ car to blend in and helped them to enter the estate without being spotted,” a source told Daily Mail of the family’s secret visit to Highgrove, which is said to have lasted more than an hour.
While Harry’s estranged brother – and heir to the British throne – Prince William was not in attendance to see Meghan, Archie and Lilibet meet Charles for the first time in four years, Queen Camilla was there as the Sussexes claimed, what one expert described as, “the biggest prize”.
“A privacy action against the Daily Mail over a bunch of 25-year-old stories doesn’t register as a flicker [with the general public],” royal expert Tom Sykes – the man behind The Royalist substack wrote online.
“Tea with the King at Highgrove — full family rehabilitation in motion — registers. Harry knows exactly which of the two verdicts matters,” he shared.
William, meanwhile, is said to be deeply unhappy at the turn of events, with Sykes claiming that the “conflict between Charles and William” surrounding Harry “is at the core of everything happening in the royal family right now”.
“Friends say Harry woke on Saturday ‘buoyed, very happy and really energised’. Of course he did. He had just turned the worst week of his public life into the best with the only verdict he actually cares about: his father ruled in his favour,” Sykes explained, pointing to Harry’s own declaration at an Invictus Games event on July 7 that “what brings us together is far more important than what sets us apart”.
“What sets this family apart is a memoir, two documentaries, an Oprah interview, six years of litigation and a statement attacking the King’s own court, none of it withdrawn, none of it regretted, and all of it, as of Friday night, rewarded,” Sykes wrote.
Indeed, sources tell Woman’s Day that Charles was cautiously delighted to kickstart a peace plan with the Sussexes, and now wants William and his wife Kate, Princess of Wales to follow suit.
“Charles just isn’t prepared to accept that he’ll never have the chance to see his sons on good terms again. He thinks it’s absolutely ludicrous that this grudge has dragged on for so long and he’s vowed to do what it takes to sort things out, even if it means putting serious pressure on the both of them because he absolutely believes they are equally to blame,” an insider claims.
“He is convinced William still loves his brother, despite everything that’s happened, and he has no doubts Harry feels the same, even if neither of them is prepared to admit it right now.”
While the source says the King acknowledged that “this trip wasn’t the right time to force any meeting”, it’s suggested that he had made it clear that he will be “tackling” the issue in due course.
“He wants them to put their egos aside and start letting some of the bad blood go, if not for his sake, then at least for the sake of their children,” the source goes on.
“To Charles, that’s the biggest tragedy in all of this, they’re missing out on growing up together as cousins, and he desperately wants to change that before it’s too late.”
