"Daily Mail" Reveals Secret Meeting Between Harry's Aides and Charles in London.. A Step Towards Reconciliation
British newspaper "Daily Mail" revealed details of a secret meeting between Prince Harry's aides and his father, King Charles III, in London last week, in a first-of-its-kind step towards reconciliation after years of estrangement.
The informal meeting took place at the private club "Royal Over-Seas League", just minutes away from the King's residence at "Clarence House", without a specific agenda, but it provided a rare opportunity to open a channel of communication between the two parties.
The meeting was attended by Meredith Maines, Prince Harry's office manager and head of communications, who flew in from the United States, and met with the King's media secretary, Toby Andree, on Wednesday, 9th of July. Liam McGuire, responsible for British media relations for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, also participated.
A source familiar with the meeting described it as "a first step towards potential reconciliation", confirming that "everyone wants to move forward now, and this was the right time to start the conversation between the two sides".
This meeting comes weeks after Harry's statement in an interview with BBC, where he said: "I really want to reconcile with my family. There's no point in continuing the fight anymore".
The roots of the crisis date back to 2020, when Harry and Meghan decided to step back from royal duties, followed by shocking media interviews, a Netflix documentary series, and Harry's revealing memoir "Spare", which shed light on tensions within the royal family.
Harry had previously spoken about feeling "wronged" due to press intrusions and the psychological pressures he and his wife faced within the royal institution.
Information had previously leaked about an initiative by King Charles to reunite the family, with expectations that Harry would regain some of his standing after his father's passing, possibly participating in royal funeral arrangements.
During Queen Elizabeth's funeral in September 2022, tensions were evident as Harry and Meghan sat in the second row behind King Charles and Queen Camilla, while Prince William and Kate Middleton occupied the front row with their children. Observers noted that this seating arrangement heightened the couple's feelings of "exclusion and bitterness".
