Prince Harry Is Back in the London, But No Word on Whether He Will See Family
The last time Prince Harry was in the UK, he discreetly attended a memorial service for Princess Diana’s brother-in-law Lord Robert Fellowes at which he and Prince William reportedly kept their distance from each other. And today, he is back in London for an awards ceremony, but with little indication that this trip brings him any closer to building bridges with his family.
Prince Harry is attending the WellChild Awards this evening as Patron of the U.K’s national charity for seriously ill children. He has been Patron of WellChild for 16 years and it is one of the few patronages he was able to keep when he stepped back as a working royal in 2020. He will meet families at a reception, present the award for Inspirational Child aged four to six, and make a speech.
However, as with any trip to his home country, there continues to be much interest in whether Harry will take the opportunity to see his father King Charles and brother Prince William. A meeting with William is thought to be less likely even though the heir to the throne is in the area carrying out an engagement with London’s Air Ambulance on Tuesday October 1. There has been no indication that the brothers have even spoken since Harry’s autobiography Spare was released in January 2023.
Harry’s relationship with his father, King Charles, is understood to be on a better footing and the Prince saw his father in February soon after the King was diagnosed with cancer. However, when Harry visited the UK for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games in May a spokesperson for the Duke said that he would not be seeing his father due to the King’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,” the spokesperson said.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were in Edinburgh to mark the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament on Saturday. They are returning to London in time to host a reception at St James’s Palace on Wednesday October 2.
There was a glimmer of hope that relations between Prince Harry and the royal family had taken a more positive turn when the Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace official social media accounts posted birthday wishes to him for his 40th birthday earlier this month. However, there were differing interpretations over whether the greeting was an olive branch or a pragmatic decision to avoid negative commentary.
