King Charles and the Duchess of Sussex have not seen each other in person or spoken since September 2022. In fact, one of Charles’ first acts as king was calling up Prince Harry and telling Harry that his wife was not welcome in Balmoral. In Spare, Harry wrote that whatever Charles said in that phone call was pretty horrible. Meghan and Charles probably spoke a few times around the mourning period and all of the funeral events. But after that? Meghan started referring to all of them as “my husband’s family” and she made a point of skipping Charles’ dumb coronation as well. Still, she’s clearly not going to begrudge Harry for wanting a relationship with his only living parent, nor would she order Harry to keep their children away from Charles. It is what it is. Except for the royal commentators, they keep positioning the Sussexes’ July visit as a question of whether Charles would deign to see or speak to his daughter-in-law. Do the royal commentators understand that they’re making Charles look and sound horrible?
As Prince Harry reportedly prepares to bring his family back to his homeland, in part to see his father, one big question swirls: Will Meghan Markle meet up with the royals she has publicly scorned? Royal experts told Page Six that ever “diplomatic” King Charles would be willing to see Meghan Markle and would never shun her. However, any meet-up will certainly be kept under wraps, with no photographers.
As we reported, Prince Harry is getting his wish of bringing Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, back to the UK next month for the first time in four years.
The Sussexes are traveling from California for a week of “Year to Go” events in anticipation of the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham. Their security is believed to have been upgraded after Harry’s fierce row with the British government over his bid to have armed police protect him in the UK. Sources on both sides say there is no doubt Charles, 77, is eager to spend time with his grandchildren, having only seen Archie, 7, in person a handful of times and Lilibet, 5, just once.
“I am sure he will see the children,” said Hugo Vickers, royal biographer and friend of the family. “The king has always left the door wide open, and he did see Harry last September. It’s a good idea that Harry should reconcile privately with his father, for both their sakes. The king made it clear that he didn’t want his last years to be miserable, and Harry is burdened with enough trauma that, if Charles died without them making peace, that would just cause him even more problems,” Vickers added. “This is a good thing for both sides.”
Although Markle, 44, has railed against the royal family and claimed she suffered abuse and racism while living within palace walls, going as far as to detail how she suffered suicidal thoughts, Vickers said Charles is eternally “diplomatic.”
Despite the drama of the past few years, Vickers said, “It would only make matters worse if the king refused to see her.”
We’ve learned that Charles still plans to make his annual pilgrimage to Edinburgh, Scotland, for a tradition known as Holyrood Week, which traditionally takes place every year from late June to early July. The king stays at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarch’s official Scottish residence — and never changes his schedule as “he’s a busy man,” said Vickers.
But the timing means he should be available to meet Harry and his family, as the Invictus event is slated for July 10-17. Another palace source, however, fears that Charles will be dragged along into the Sussex spotlight and the chaos that follows them, saying: “Harry and Meghan will frame it as the royal family need them, and Charles needs them.”
“Although Markle, 44, has railed against the royal family and claimed she suffered abuse and racism while living within palace walls…” She gave an interview to Oprah more than five years ago. She cried and spoke like someone who dealt with a horrific level of abuse from her husband’s family and the family’s weaponized media machinery. She did not “rail,” she told her side of the story, including correcting many notable lies which had been fed to the press by the family. Positioning Charles as someone who has every right to snub or ignore Meghan for what she said about her ordeal is not the right way to speak about any of this. “Another palace source, however, fears that Charles will be dragged along into the Sussex spotlight and the chaos that follows them…” I mean, Charles saw those sparse crowds at Trooping the Colour. He saw all of those yellow “Not My King” signs. It’s more than possible he wants some of that Sussex sparkle too, that he wants to change up his own grim, deadbeat-dad image.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
