King Charles may be ready to let bygones be bygones to some extent as regards the rift between he and his son, Prince Harry.
According to Page Six, the King, currently undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, is planning to invite Harry and Meghan Markle to a huge get-together for the Royal Family at Balmoral later in the year.
Though relations between the Sussexes and the monarchy have been seriously damaged over the past few years, some royal fans retain hope that the situation may be salvaged. However small those chances seem, it would appear that the first hurdle to any eventual parlay is getting the parties involved all in one place.
Yet that’s only a potential bonus as far as Charles is concerned, and reportedly not the reason he’s prepared to extend an olive branch across the Pond.
No, as per a well-placed royal insider speaking with Page Six, the King is keen to have Harry and Meghan make the journey to British shores because he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren.
Given the tumultuous circumstances that have plagued the King’s relationship with Prince Harry in recent years – and all that Harry and Meghan have said since moving to the US – it should come as small surprise to many that Charles hasn’t seen nearly so much of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as he would have liked.
Harry has returned to his homeland on a number of occasions, including earlier this year after his father’s cancer diagnosis was made public, but Meghan and the children haven’t traveled with him.
And it’s perhaps in light of his health woes that Charles is growing more concerned with the nature of the relationship – or lack of – that he shares with Archie and Lilibet.
“I can see Charles desperately wanting to see the children, and extending this olive branch to Meghan and Harry,” the aforementioned royal insider told Page Six. “He may decide that life is just too short. Balmoral is truly the perfect, restful place for a reunion. If he does issue an invite, then Harry and Meghan should surely agree to the visit.”
Archie and Lilibet have only been to the UK on one occasion since their parents decided to make their famous royal exit in 2020, according to the Express – that for the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
Tensions remain obviously high between Harry, Meghan and the rest of the royals, with a number of serious grievances aired by the Sussexes via their infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, as well as the subsequent Netflix documentary they released, and of course, Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare.
Last year Harry and Meghan were relieved of their UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, meaning that they now have no official base if and when they choose to visit. This, coupled with security concerns the couple are said to have, has made any potential visit that doesn’t fall into the realm of absolutely essential highly unlikely.
As a result, it will be interesting to see how the Sussexes react if Charles does extend an invite to Balmoral. Harry has recently gone on record to confirm his intention to return to the UK for professional commitments, and it’s expected that he will make the trip for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games on May 8.
Whether or not his family will be with him remains to be seen.
