Charles and Harry’s ‘Thawing’ Relationship Is a ‘Positive’ for King’s Reign

King Charles III will have “hugely appreciated” Prince Harry’s visit in the days after the monarch was diagnosed with cancer, marking a “positive” step in the royal father and son’s relationship and the king’s reign, a new episode of Newsweek‘s The Royal Report has heard.

The prince flew into Britain on February 6, just one day after Buckingham Palace announced that the king was undergoing a schedule of treatment following a cancer diagnosis.

Harry spent time with Charles at Clarence House soon after he landed, in a meeting reported to have lasted between 30 and 45 minutes. Afterwards, the king and Queen Camilla were photographed leaving for Buckingham Palace where they took a helicopter to the monarch’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Harry stayed in Britain overnight before he returned to the U.S., where Meghan Markle had remained with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.

Public interest in Harry’s relationship with his father was pulled into public focus in 2023, with the publication of the prince’s bombshell-heavy memoir, Spare.

While the book was a commercial success, it earned Harry criticism for some of its brutal takedowns of family members, including Prince William and Camilla.

Also included were a number of revelations about Charles as a parent, including the detail that he did not give his son a hug when Princess Diana died when he was just 12 years old.

Charles did not comment on the book, in line with a blanket “no-comment” rule adopted by Buckingham Palace, though commentators speculated that relations between the British royals and Harry and Meghan were subsequently at an all-time low.

However, a tidal change may have taken place more than a year after Spare‘s publication and recent medical issues facing the king, Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent, Jack Royston, has highlighted to Royal Report listeners.

“For me, the briefness of this meeting doesn’t actually take away from the huge significance of it,” he said of Harry and Charles’ February 6 encounter, and the effort it took for the prince to make it.

“I hope it’s a positive moment for their relationship. Clearly, there has been a huge conflict between them over the years. But there’s also signs that that’s thawing.”

“You know, the phone call that they had at around the time of Charles’s birthday in November was also a good, positive step in the right direction. So hopefully this is another one.”

Royston also suggested that the pause for the monarchy caused by Charles’ medical issues could usher in a more positive period of his reign, giving cause for reflection, on Harry’s part, over the revelations made in public about family issues in the past four years.

“There’s also a question here about whether Harry will look back on his past decision-making through new eyes and wonder whether actually he would have done some things differently,” he said.

“You know, it was only two years ago, in 2022, that Hoda Kotb interviewed Harry for Today on NBC at the Invictus Games and asked him whether he missed his father and brother, and Harry basically swerved the question and said his Invictus Games family were the ones he was focusing on in that moment.

“He then said, you know, his home as an American now and the family he was missing were two little people. So, obviously that’s a reference to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet and not his father and brother. And, so, what difference two years has made.”

So far, Harry has not made any official statement about his father’s illness, and has not announced further trips to the U.K.

In a statement released from Buckingham Palace on February 9, Charles thanked the public for the support he has received since going public with his diagnosis.

“I would like to express my most heartfelt thanks for the many messages of support and good wishes I have received in recent days,” he said.

“As all those who have been affected by cancer will know, such kind thoughts are the greatest comfort and encouragement.

“It is equally heartening to hear how sharing my own diagnosis has helped promote public understanding and shine a light on the work of all those organizations which support cancer patients and their families across the U.K. and wider world.

“My lifelong admiration for their tireless care and dedication is all the greater as a result of my own personal experience.”

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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