Will King Charles and Prince Harry Meet Up While the Latter is in the U.K. This Week?

Marie Claire previously reported on “peace talks” rumors, that father and son King Charles and Prince Harry would be able to have a sit-down to hash it out while Harry is in London this month. (Harry is expected to fly solo to the U.K. for the WellChild Awards on September 7 before heading off to Germany for the Invictus Games from September 9 to September 16, where Meghan Markle will join him. We know we don’t need to tell you this, but September 8 marks one year since the passing of Queen Elizabeth, who died at Balmoral nearly one year ago at 96 years old.)

But in the sometimes revolving door that is reportage on the royal family, now, multiple outlets report, the meeting won’t be happening, as the King’s schedule is apparently too full. (He and Queen Camilla are currently preparing for a rescheduled visit to France, which kicks off on September 20.) 

The Mirror reports that Charles—who is currently still at Balmoral—has “no time in the diary” right now, and that Harry and older brother Prince William haven’t spoken in months. It remains unclear where Harry will stay while in country, as he and Meghan have vacated their U.K. home of Frogmore Cottage, effective earlier this summer.

In a report from The Daily Express, the Princess of Wales apparently wishes to reconcile the brothers, and is “urging” the King to invite Harry to Balmoral next week for a “face-to-face” talk with William. Rumors have swirled of a possible “summer summit” at the estate in Scotland for Charles, Camilla, William, and Catherine; Marie Claire reported recently that the summit would discuss the future of the monarchy, looking back at the King’s first year on the throne and ahead to what’s next. 

“Kate believes there’s no way they can fix things until the two brothers get in the same room and air out their grievances to each other,” a source said, per The Daily Express. “It’s the only way. Kate’s having to walk a fine line between loyalty to the Crown and her husband, but she’s getting William used to the inevitable—he needs a face-to-face with Harry. She’s very canny, suggesting Balmoral as the place to go for peace talks. The brothers are more likely to be calm and rational surrounded by memories of their grandmother.” (Balmoral was always reportedly Her late Majesty’s favorite place.) This source added that a meeting between the brothers is “more than overdue,” and that this is what Queen Elizabeth “would have wanted.”

The sit-down, if it ever happens, would likely occur around the one-year anniversary of the late Queen’s passing, and “there’s something poignant about Kate pushing for a reunion between the boys on the anniversary of Her Majesty’s death, in the same place in which they all said goodbye to her,” a second source said.

A potential father-son meetup has apparently been in the works for a while, and “discussions have been ongoing to bring the King together with his son, but it hasn’t been the right time,” a source said. “Talks were originally meant to take place when Harry was over for the Coronation, but aides thought it would be far too stressful for the King to meet with his son during that time.” September 17—just two days after Harry’s thirty-ninth birthday—was originally reported as the date for the now-possibly-not-happening “peace talks,” and according to the source “the finer details are being worked through between their teams.”

Let’s see what happens.