Should King Charles have seen Harry this week?
The Duke of Sussex made a fleeting visit to London
Hi Royal Clubbers,
While we saw the King host his first Buckingham Palace garden party of the year (and what a joy it was to see him back on the royal beat again!), and Prince William carry out a mini tour of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the other big story that dominated headlines this week was Prince Harry's return to London.
My fellow Royal Club author Isabelle shared video from Harry's homecoming here, while Emily Nash attended Harry's Invictus Games anniversary service and wrote all about her evening in her newsletter here.
Harry travelled without his wife Meghan and their two children; he has been adamant that his family will not return to his home country until their security is sorted. (Although Meghan did make a brief stopover at London Heathrow on Thursday, where she was reunited with Harry and the pair then flew to Nigeria to kick off their mini tour).
But despite travelling thousands of miles - and also personally inviting his father to attend the Invictus Games service - Harry was somewhat snubbed by Charles and refused a meeting. The King was incidentally hosting the garden party that day.
A spokesperson for the Duke confirmed: "In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the Duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty's full programme. The Duke of course is understanding of his father's diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon."
I have to say I was personally a little surprised that the monarch couldn't make time for his son. I appreciate how busy he is and how much he has going on, making a soft return to public-facing duties coupled with his cancer treatment plan. And I understand how far in advance his diary is planned, particularly when he has a backlog of engagements to carry out.
But Harry only visits the UK once in a blue moon, and I'm sure he would have liked to see his father in person and to see how his recovery is going. Maybe if his trip were a little longer, the King could have found some time to slot him in. What it has done is only fuel the speculation further around the state of their relationship…
Those are my two cents anyway. I'd love to know what you think by answering our poll below. And please do share your comments below, but remember, you have to be a paid subscriber first to take part.