King Charles Reunites With Prince Harry, Meghan and Their Two Children at Highgrove After Four Years

King Charles III met privately with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, on July 10, marking the first time the king had seen his younger son's family together in more than four years, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

The king and Queen Camilla hosted Harry, Meghan and their children at Highgrove House, the monarch's private estate in Gloucestershire, west of London. It was the first time Charles had seen his two grandchildren in person in more than four years, and the first time Harry and Meghan had been in the United Kingdom together since 2022, when they attended Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Buckingham Palace described the gathering as a private family visit and said no photographs or additional details would be released.

The meeting followed days of uncertainty over the Sussexes' travel plans. Harry had arrived in London the previous week for a series of charity engagements, including an Invictus Games Foundation event in Birmingham, and there had been widespread media reports beforehand about whether Meghan and the children would join him. According to BBC News, Harry had been reassessing whether it would be safe for his wife and children to travel amid an unresolved dispute over his security arrangements while in the UK, after his request for taxpayer-funded protection during the visit was denied.

Notably absent from the Highgrove reunion were Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, who instead appeared together at a separate public event in Windsor the same day. Buckingham Palace has not commented on the reason for their absence.

Roya Nikkhah, royal editor of The Sunday Times, reported that William and Harry have not seen each other or spoken since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in 2022. Writing about the Highgrove meeting, Nikkhah said, "What will the Prince of Wales make of his father's olive branch to the Sussexes? He won't like it, that's for sure." She added that while William has largely stopped discussing his brother publicly, "his feelings of betrayal by his brother's departure from the monarchy and subsequent outbursts still sting."

The Highgrove meeting was not the first sign of a gradual thaw between Harry and his father specifically. In September 2025, Harry and Charles held a private tea at Clarence House, their first in-person meeting in 19 months, which Buckingham Palace also confirmed at the time. That meeting followed Harry telling the BBC in May 2025 that his father would not speak to him "because of this security stuff," and that he was eager to reconcile with the royal family, saying, "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious."

The relationship between Harry and the rest of the royal family has remained strained since he and Meghan stepped back from official royal duties in 2020 and relocated to California. That strain deepened following the 2023 publication of Harry's memoir, "Spare," in which he wrote that William had physically pushed him to the ground during an argument about Meghan, whom William had reportedly described as "difficult," "rude" and "abrasive." Harry said in the book that he did not retaliate and that William later apologized. Asked last year whether he regretted making those claims public, Harry told the Guardian, "My conscience is clear."

Harry's UK security arrangements have remained a central and unresolved point of tension. After he stepped back from royal duties, his taxpayer-funded protection was downgraded from full-time coverage to case-by-case review. He challenged that change in court and lost his appeal earlier this year.

Following the Highgrove meeting, neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for the Sussexes released further public comment beyond confirming that the visit had taken place. No date has been announced for any future meeting between the two branches of the family.