King Charles III held a private reunion with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children, Archie and Lilibet, at Highgrove House on Thursday, marking the first time the monarch has seen his grandchildren in four years. The meeting also included Queen Camilla, bringing together the Sussex family and the King for the first time since the rift triggered by Harry's departure from royal duties in 2020.
The gathering came as Harry undertakes a five-day schedule of Invictus Games engagements in Birmingham. Meghan travelled to Britain with the children, though she did not join public events as initially expected. Buckingham Palace reportedly withdrew an offer of palace accommodation for Harry at the last minute, and the couple have no plans to meet Prince William during the visit.
The trip follows a High Court ruling on 7 July dismissing Harry's privacy claim against Associated Newspapers over unlawful information-gathering practices. The last time Charles saw Archie and Lilibet was during Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022, and a family confidant suggested the children have little awareness of the royal family.