Prince Harry has issued a rare update on his father, King Charles III, following their first meeting in over a year.
The father and son, who have somewhat of a rocky relationship, last saw each other 19 months ago in February of last year, when the Duke promptly left his home in California to go to the UK to see Charles following his cancer diagnosis.
So, it’s no surprise that royal fans were keen to find out how long-awaited reunion (10 September) would go.
Harry mingled with corporate sponsors and Government ministers at an Invictus reception at The Gherkin in the City of London on Wednesday evening (10 September), a little over an hour after he left Charles’s London residence at Clarence House, where the pair spent some time face-to-face.
The meeting, which took place just a few months after Harry publicly expressed hopes of a reconciliation with his family in May, reportedly lasted 54 minutes.
When asked by a reporter shortly after arriving at the Invictus reception how his father was, Harry replied: “Yes, he’s great, thank you.”
Harry, who stepped down as a working senior royal in 2020, and Charles’s last meeting was less than 24 hours after the announcement about the King’s health and was without Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The encounter appeared to last for just over 30 minutes.
On Tuesday (9 September), Harry made a personal donation of £1.1m to a Children in Need charity project, Nottingham’s Community Recording Studio, which supports young people who have been affected by violence.
The Duke of Sussex said he hoped the donation, which, as we say, came from his own money rather than his Archewell organisation, would help ‘changemakers in the city continue their mission to create safe spaces… and offer hope and belonging to young people who need it most’.
However, it didn’t take long for the anti-Harry and Meghan brigade to come out in full force to take issue with Harry’s generous donation, which they dubbed as being on the ‘charm offensive’.
Fortunately for the father-of-two, many others hit back to defend the ‘genuine’ and ‘caring’ donation.
Harry’s four-day-long trip will come to an end 11 September, with the Duke set to fly back to California after rounding off the visit by visiting a charity set up in memory of his mother.
He’s expected to carry out a final engagement with the Diana Award in London before travelling back to Meghan and his kids.
