King Charles was in Scotland for the summer and made his way back to London on Wednesday to meet with his son, Prince Harry.
The royal reconciliation meeting was three months in the making, following Harry and Charles’s reps sitting down for lunch in London at a members-only club.
Harry arrived to the UK on Monday for a four-day visit, and the UK was buzzing over whether or not he would meet with his father, which did happen on Day Three of his visit with Charles giving Harry 55 minutes of his time, which is a lot when you’re the reigning monarch.
We spoke to Ian Pelham Turner, former royal photographer, just minutes before the meeting happened and apparently his instincts kicked him, with him saying a meeting was going to happen.
He explained: “My instinct — and perhaps my positive attitude to life — makes me feel that a meeting of minds behind close doors may be happening.”
Charles went out of his way to see Harry during his four-day visit
Harry was seen pulling up to Clarence House, King Charles’s royal residence in London (Image: Getty Images )
Pelham Turner was correct, the two did meet behind closed doors, and as predicted, the details have been kept private, which appears to be a success story in itself because that’s what the Royal Family has been asking of Harry, to keep things private.
It’s not clear if this is the second step in the royal reconciliation rollout, or if this is considered permanent, that Harry and Charles are now on good terms, but either way, Pelham Turner believes Charles will make strong decisions, based on his own opinions, and not let others interfere.
He explained: “I recently had a serious conversation with a very influential member of a major Middle Eastern Royal family who told me that King Charles is a much stronger and powerful King than most people can see and as such his prediction was that the King will make strong decisions without interference from anyone.”
Charles took a helicopter from Balmoral to London to make sure he didn’t miss his son
We also spoke to Pauline Maclaran, co-author of Royal Fever and Professor of Marketing & Consumer Research at Royal Holloway, after the meeting took place.
According to Maclaran, now that the meeting has happened, it will cut down on speculation, and possibly Harry can breathe a little easier.
She said: The meeting will now put an end to all the speculation that has been flourishing in the last few days.
She added: “Apparently the meeting lasted around 55 mins so given their busy schedules, this sounds longer than Harry’s last meeting with his father and can be taken as a sign that they had rewarding discussions but we will have to wait and see what comes of the meeting.”
It just seems like royal watchers were on the edge of their seats as to whether or not the meeting was going to happen, with all eyes on Harry as he made his rounds in the UK, which was something we were keen to speak to Maclaran about, as to why so many people are invested in this reconciliation.
The royal expert shared her insight on the matter: “I think the public have been following fairly closely all the royal family relationship ups and downs, especially those between the King and Harry.”
She added: “There is the human interest story and people are drawn to the soap opera effect in that they can often relate to this type of emotional turmoil within families.”
“It makes the royals seem rather vulnerable, and just like us!”
