Top royal reporters are shrugging off a report that Prince Harry will finally enjoy some face time with King Charles when he visits the U.K. on Sept 8 for a charity event, saying that the monarch is reluctant to be part of “the circus” that his son likes to attract.
The report about a possible in-person meeting comes from the British tabloid The Mirror, which said that the renegade California-based Duke of Sussex “is poised” to see his father for the first time in 20 months, since the king announced he was battling cancer.
The Mirror report said that tensions “have thawed” since Harry lost his lengthy and costly case against the British government over his request for upgrades to his taxpayer-funded security while he’s in the U.K. The Mirror said that Harry’s supposed visit with his father was set in motion last month by an informal meeting held in London held last month between one of Harry’s top advisers and the monarch’s communications secretary.
However, that informal meeting of the advisers was not so secret because it was leaked to the press, likely by Harry and his team, as The Sun’s royal editor Matt Wilkinson acknowledged in an interview on Britain’s TalkTV.
Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex waves as he departs the the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in central London, on April 9, 2025 following the second day of his appeal hearing to over the downgrading of his personal security during visits in Britain. Prince Harry’s lawyer outlined in court threats made against him, including calls for his murder, as King Charles’s youngest son appealed on April 8, 2025 against an “unjustified” decision to restrict his police protection in the UK. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
Because Harry’s private communications with his family members tend to end up in the press, Wilkinson shrugged off The Mirror’s report that Charles would agree to see his son. However, Wilkinson agreed with The Mirror’s contention that Prince William would not be part of any such meeting and has “rejected” any of Harry’s reconciliation efforts.
“I absolutely stand by the fact that I don’t think his brother at this moment in time can even entertain the thought of any reconciliation,” Wilkinson said. He also said” “I doubt whether the king is desperate to see Harry.”
Wilkinson said Harry actually has had multiple opportunities to see his father, quietly and privately, over the past 20 months. He also explained how he could enjoy a below-the-radar meeting when he comes to the U.K. next month, while is father is on vacation with the rest of the royal family in Balmoral, Scotland. “If he genuinely wanted to see his father, without all the circus around, he could have just flown into Heathrow, gone up to Aberdeen and gone over to see his father,” Wilkinson said.
But for this upcoming visit, people in Harry’s camp have announced it to the global media as if it’s “a royal visit,” Wilkinson said. Harry is expected to be in London to attend the WellChild Awards on Sept. 8, the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Harry has long supported WellChild, a nonprofit that provides services to children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. It’s expected that Harry will have meetings in London with other organizations as well.
Harry last saw Charles in February 2024, when the king announced he had cancer and begun treatment. Harry revealed to the world that he had jumped on a plane to fly to London to see his father. However, Harry’s critics accused the duke of pulling a publicity stunt with his mad “dash” to England to see his father for what turned out to only be a half-hour meeting.
This week, Rebecca English, the royals editor for the Daily Mail, reminded her readers that Charles didn’t ask Harry to come see him in England in early February 2024, especially as he had just begun treatment and wasn’t up for the stress that his younger son tends to bring with him.
On the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential YouTube show, English also raised doubts about a Charles-and-Harry in-person meeting next week, explaining how it would be “a big risk.”
“It’s plausible,” English acknowledged. She said Charles will probably interrupt his vacation in Balmoral with short visits to London for official meetings or his ongoing cancer treatment. During one of those visits, it’s possible Charles could fit in a visit with Harry.
On the other hand, she said, the king and the rest of the royal family have become “wary” of Harry because he or his team have a tendency to disseminate private family conversations to chosen media outlets.
English also noted that Harry made some pretty incendiary allegations against the royal establishment in an off-the-rails interview with the BBC in early May, after he lost his final U.K. court appeal over his security dispute. While Harry said he wanted reconciliation with his family, he also complained that his father was no longer speaking to him because of the security dispute. He also alleged mistreatment by supposed shadowy figures in the royal establishment and the British government, who are in cahoots to “harm” him and his family, like his mother Princess Diana.
According to English, Harry especially upset royal insiders by raising doubts about his Charles’ health by saying, “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
“Harry in that same breath, said ‘I want reconciliation with my family,’ while once again absolutely sticking the knife in and even questioning how long his father had to live, which I know really really upset many family members,” English said “It was considered in such poor taste to enunciate that.”
To Wilkinson, the most likely scenario for Harry’s visit to the U.K. is that the king will say he has scheduling conflicts as an excuse to not see his son. The king could even say he’s busy preparing for the upcoming state visit, Sept. 17-19, by U.S. President Donald Trump. “I do wonder if the palace will be planning a lot of diary events for the king that week (of Harry’s visit),” Wilkinson said.