Prince Harry returned to the United Kingdom for a four-day visit that sparked intense speculation about a potential reunion with King Charles III, marking what turned out to be the first face-to-face meeting between father and son in 19 months.
The Duke of Sussex arrived in Britain on Monday, September 8, 2025, coinciding with the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Harry immediately traveled to Windsor Castle where he privately laid a wreath and flowers at his late grandmother’s burial site at St. George’s Chapel.
The visit centered around Harry’s attendance at the annual WellChild Awards in London on Monday evening, where he has served as patron for 17 years. The charity supports seriously ill children and their families, with Harry describing the event as celebrating courage, resilience, and extraordinary love of families and caregivers.
During the awards ceremony, Harry made revealing comments about sibling relationships while speaking with 17-year-old award winner Declan Bitmead. When Harry asked if Declan’s younger brother drove him mad, the teenager replied they got along fine. Harry responded with a smile, stating, “You know what – siblings,” adding that attending the same school sometimes makes relationships more challenging.
The comments came as Harry and his estranged brother, Prince William, were positioned just seven miles apart on Monday. While Harry visited Windsor, William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, attended the National Federation of Women’s Institutes in Sunningdale, Berkshire. The brothers have reportedly not spoken for approximately three years and did not meet during Harry’s current visit.
Harry’s schedule included a Tuesday visit to the Community Recording Studio in Nottingham, where he announced a substantial donation to Children in Need to support work tackling violence affecting young people. The duke previously visited this charity in October 2019, just two months before he and Meghan announced their departure from royal duties.
The possibility of a meeting between Harry and King Charles has generated significant media attention. Charles and Harry last met in February 2024, when the prince flew from California to London after learning of his father’s cancer diagnosis. Their meeting at Clarence House lasted approximately 45 minutes before Charles departed for his Sandringham estate.
Harry and King Charles finally met face to face during a private tea at Clarence House on September 10, lasting almost an hour. This meeting marked a significant step toward reconciliation.
The gathering was arranged quietly—Harry cleared his schedule for the day, and King Charles shifted his busy London itinerary to accommodate the meeting following recent communications between their teams.
In May 2025, following his unsuccessful legal challenge over security protection, Harry expressed his desire for reconciliation in a BBC interview. He indicated he would love reconciliation with his family, stating there was no point in continuing to fight and acknowledging that life is precious while referencing uncertainty about his father’s health, given the ongoing cancer treatment.
King Charles, who turns 77 this year and continues cancer treatment, has spent most of the summer at his Balmoral Estate in Scotland but regularly travels south for medical appointments and royal engagements. His presence in the United Kingdom during Harry’s visit made a father-son meeting logistically more possible, unlike Harry’s April 2025 visit, when Charles was conducting a state visit to Italy.
The relationship between Harry and the royal family deteriorated significantly after he and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California. Their subsequent interviews, Netflix documentary series, and Harry’s memoir “Spare” contained critical assessments of the royal household, including allegations of insensitivity and racism.
Royal observers view the meeting as a potential thaw in their strained relationship. While it’s seen as a hopeful step, further reconciliation remains uncertain and contingent on mutual trust.