Prince Harry has a rare event in London tomorrow, where he’ll attend the 10th anniversary service for the Invictus Games. He will not be visiting his father, King Charles III, while he’s in town because Charles is unable to see him, Meghan Markle and Harry’s rep confirmed to Page Six.
Their spokesperson said in a rare statement, “In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the U.K. this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program. The duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
Harry visited his father briefly in February after Charles shared his cancer diagnosis. He returned to his home in Montecito, California, 24 hours later. Meghan is not joining Harry on his visit to London this week either.
Since he and Meghan stepped back from their senior working royal family roles in 2020, the relationship between them and the royal family has been strained.
In arguably further proof of that distance, earlier today, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles is handing over Harry’s military role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to his brother, Prince William, on May 13.
The royal family also quietly took down Harry and Meghan’s individual bios from their website in March. Meghan and Harry now have a combined bio page that mentions their decision to step away from their working royal roles. Their children, Archie and Lilibet, had their biographies removed altogether.
In November, royal reporter Omid Scobie spoke to ELLE.com about why Meghan and Harry aren’t about to imminently reconcile with William, in particular. Meghan, for her part, has stayed out of the U.K. since attending the Queen’s funeral in September 2022.
Scobie explained that even if Harry and William were to mend their relationship someday, “I don’t think it changes Meghan’s position.”
“We’ve seen her in the last year really establish herself as an independent individual that is not riding on the coattails of her royal past or really even interested in being involved in that world,” he said. “I know her team spoke about [how] she wasn’t coming over for the coronation because of Archie’s birthday, but I also know from speaking with people that there was also a desire to stay away from the noise and hysteria that comes any time she sets foot near the country, let alone the family. And the way they were treated during the time of the Queen’s death and the funeral really reinforced for her that she had not only made the right decision, but didn’t want to go anywhere near [it] again.
“They said it loud and clear that they were looking for conversations and accountability and for people to own their roles and everything that had happened, and no one has so there is no reason for anything to change moving forward. One could argue the balls are all in the royal family’s court, and we know that they’re not hitting them back anytime soon.”