Harry's tea with Charles could be small but significant step to reconciliation

Prince Harry waving after attending a charity engagement in west London before his meeting with the King

Prince Harry has met his father King Charles at Clarence House in London on Wednesday for their first face to face meeting since February 2024.

The clues have been scattered all over the place in recent months.

In his BBC interview in May, there was a distinct shift in tone from the prince.

After the years of raw, emotional media appearances, the Netflix documentary series, the searing criticism of the royal family in his memoir Spare, this was a different Prince Harry in front of the cameras.

"I would love a reconciliation with my family," he said. "There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious."

Prince Harry had made his position clear. He wanted to see his father but was the King feeling the same way?

A photograph in the Mail on Sunday in July showed the media communications team representing Prince Harry meeting in London with the King's communications director. Two rival camps coming together and the image finding its way onto the front page of a national newspaper.

Both sides denied leaking the photo but what it did was show there was a dialogue. A channel of communication between both camps had opened.

And there has been a unified silence from both sides in recent days that has also been telling.

Neither side would be drawn on a date or time of any reunion.

We were making educated guesses on when father and son might meet based on gaps in their diaries and who was planning to be where geographically.

In a family fallout riddled with mistrust and rancour, the two camps stayed very tight lipped about the possibility of a meeting.

Their mutual silence held.

Prince Harry has been in the UK this week for charity events, but has called the US home since 2020.

He has not seen King Charles in person since February 2024. The last time that they were together was soon after the King's cancer diagnosis when Prince Harry came to the UK for a brief meeting.

When the reunion finally happened on Wednesday afternoon both Buckingham Palace and Prince Harry's team were aligned afterwards in terms of stressing to the media that there would be no comment or guidance on the detail of conversations had at the meeting.

The Palace later confirmed that the King had a private tea with his son that lasted about 50 minutes, during a visit to the royal residence.

Afterwards he said of the King "yes, he's great" in response to reporters' questions.

Prince Harry was photographed being driven away from Clarence House after Wednesday's meeting

It all just felt like something had slightly shifted.

If Prince Harry had left the UK without seeing his father, it was hard to see how that relationship would be rebuilt.

It would have been damaging for both sides.

What happens next is more uncertain. We are way off any full family reconciliation.

There have been no signs of Prince Harry meeting Prince William during this week, with the brothers carrying out separate arrangements.

Prince Harry leaves the UK today. We don't know when he'll be back.

He departs having sat in a room with his father over a cup of tea for the first time in more than a year and a half.

Making peace can be a long and and bumpy road. These are small but significant steps.

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