An insider is sharing details of the “very emotional” and long-awaited reunion between Prince Harry and his father, King Charles, after nearly two years of estrangement.
“The meeting was sparked by a handwritten letter from Harry earlier this year to Charles expressing his desire to reconnect,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly after the Duke of Sussex met with his father on Wednesday, September 10.
“They were not sure it was going to happen until just in the last week,” the insider continued, adding that the reunion was “super positive and very relaxed.”
Harry traveled across the pond to attend the annual WellChild Awards in London on Monday, September 8. The Duke of Sussex also visited the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London before meeting his father at Clarence House at around 5:20 p.m. that same day, per Sky News.
According to the outlet, the father and son chatted for around 54 minutes before Prince Harry departed for an Invictus Games event at around 6:14 p.m. local time.
“They were catching up personally about the children and what has been going on with Charles and his health,” the source told Us of the exchange. “There were hugs and tears at the meeting.”
Prince Harry shares two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, with his wife, Meghan Markle. The pair have been estranged from Harry’s family after they stepped away as senior working royals in 2020 and relocated to Montecito, California.
In February 2024, King Charles announced he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. In the wake of his father’s health scare, Prince Harry publicly expressed a desire to mend the father and son’s broken relationship.
“I would love reconciliation with my family,” Prince Harry told the BBC during a May 2025 interview, shortly after he lost his apparel to reinstate government-funded security for him and his family when visiting the U.K. (Harry and Markle lost their security detail after they stepped down as senior members of the royal family.)
“Life is precious,” Harry continued at the time. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
According to the source, the “mood was genuine and positive” during the Wednesday royal reunion, adding that there was even “laughter” despite the pair having not been in the same room for nearly two years.
“They shared a long hug when they first saw each other,” the insider told Us. “Harry started crying and it was very emotional for both of them. They really missed each other.”
The source continued: “It was a short window of time, but Charles agreed to it because the timing worked out for him and it was a good opportunity to meet while Harry was in London. They met at Clarence House because it’s the King’s home. And it was chosen because it was an intimate, less formal atmosphere compared to Buckingham Palace. They wanted an intimate setting to ease back into their personal connection without any pressure.”
According to the same insider, the reunion took place because King Charles “felt the timing was right” and that their “rift needed to be addressed.”
“They needed to come to some sort of resolution and they both feel the same,” the insider added.
While Prince Harry and his father’s fractured relationship seems to be on the mend, the same cannot be said for Harry’s relationship with his estranged brother, Prince William.
“I think that Harry’s relationship with his brother is a different beast than his relationship with his father,” royal expert Kristen Meinzer exclusively told Us in August. “But perhaps if Charles warms more to Harry, William will feel compelled to follow his lead.”
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