The China Mail - Prince Harry meets King Charles for first time since 2024

Harry, who cut ties with the royal family in 2020, met the king for a private tea, according to a source close to the royals -- their first time meeting since February 2024.

The Duke of Sussex, who has been in the UK since Monday for a series of engagements, was seen entering the royal residence in a black car soon after the king returned to his home in London.

Harry's car left Clarence House less than an hour after entering, according to an AFP reporter.

Buckingham Palace did not reply to requests for comment.

The short meeting ended months of speculation about whether a reunion was on the cards, which reached a head when Charles flew back from Scotland on Wednesday and arrived in London.

The king is set to head back to Balmoral Castle, his Scottish residence, on Thursday.

Harry had not met his father since last year, when he rushed to the UK when his father announced being diagnosed with cancer, for which he is still receiving treatment.

At the time, their meeting, also at Clarence House, lasted less than 45 minutes, and Harry left for his home in California the next day.

In May, the prince said they were not on speaking terms as a result of the multiple court cases he is fighting in the UK as well as accusations against the royal family he has made in explosive television interviews and his memoir.

Charles's younger son said he was hoping for "reconciliation" as he did "not know how much longer my father has".

- Strained ties -

But relations remain frosty between Harry and his elder brother, heir-to-the-throne Prince William.

Both brothers were in different parts of Windsor on Monday, when Harry visited the grave of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who died three years ago, on September 8, 2022.

Harry had several charity events lined up during his three-day trip to the UK, which he made without wife Meghan or his children.

The prince said in a May interview with the BBC he did not feel safe bringing his family to Britain after his police protection was downgraded by the UK government.

He visited the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at London's Imperial College earlier on Wednesday, and was scheduled to attend an event linked to his Invictus Games Foundation in the evening.

The prince has returned to the UK three other times since his last meeting with Charles, but had not managed to see his father, including on one occasion when the pair were at different engagements just two miles apart.

Since stepping down from his royal duties and moving to California with Meghan in 2020, Harry has publicly criticized the royal family on several occasions.

In March 2021, in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Sussexes insinuated that some members of the royal family were racist.

And in his tell-all memoir "Spare", he criticised William and his sister-in-law Kate, among other revelations.

But on July 9, the king's press secretary and the prince's head of communications were spotted meeting in London.

A photo of them sitting together, accompanied by Harry's UK spokesman, on a private terrace, was published in the Mail on Sunday, stirring speculation of a possible meeting of the estranged pair.

K.Leung--ThChM