King Charles and Queen Camilla host Prince Harry, Meghan and their two children Archie and Lilibet at Gloucestershire home

The King was reunited with his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet today.

Charles and Camilla secretly hosted Harry, Meghan and their two children at Highgrove for a long-awaited reunion.

The meeting took place at the monarch’s private residence in Gloucestershire, a short drive from Oxfordshire, where Charles is holding official talks, and Birmingham, where the Duke of Sussex is holding a public event.

The meeting was held amidst a huge veil of secrecy and intense briefings to the media.

Charles had not seen Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who live in California, since 2022, when they were three and one years old.

The 41-year-old last saw Harry in September last year but was forced to publicly slap her son earlier this week after his PR team falsely reported that he had accepted an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace during his visit to the UK this week.

In fact, he accepted his father’s invitation too late, after rejecting it for weeks.

Harry arrived in England on Monday. The following day, the Daily Mail’s publisher lost a High Court case alleging wrongdoing by Associated Newspapers, and yesterday began the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games.

King of Britain III. Charles and Queen Camilla pose on the steps as they arrive at a garden party at Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, May 20, 2026

Meghan and her children fled their European holiday home to Britain undetected.

Buckingham Palace refused to discuss further details about what was described as a ‘private family event’. No images will be published.

While the move will be welcomed as a thaw in family relations, courtiers will no doubt be watching the Sussexes’ next move carefully.

The King and his senior officials had always hoped for a low-key, “peaceful” family reconciliation, but weeks of leaks and briefings by Team Sussex had left them both “tired and wary”.

But despite the treatment he received from Harry – both he and Camilla were slandered by the prince in numerous interviews and documentaries as well as his memoirs – sources described the situation as ‘sad’ for the King, who is 77 and still living with cancer.

The meeting has arrived After days of speculation about whether the family reunion would happen.

This event is likely the last time he saw his grandchildren (seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet) meet Queen Elizabeth II. It was an emotional reunion for the King, who saw it in person during Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.

The meeting between Charles and the young prince and princess is likely to be interpreted as a sign that the relationship between the King and his son Harry is thawing.

Harry said last year the court’s decision not to reinstate police security ‘made it impossible for me to bring my family back to the UK’. Picture: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their children Archie (left) and Lilibet (right)

Then-Prince Charles holds one-year-old Prince Harry at Kensington Palace

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wave to the crowd on their wedding day in May 2018

The pair had been estranged for a time, particularly after Harry criticized his father, stepmother Camilla, brother the Prince of Wales and sister-in-law Kate in an Oprah interview, Netflix documentary, interviews and his autobiography Spare after leaving the monarchy six years ago.

In February 2024, Harry made a transatlantic trip from his home in California to Britain to see his father, who had been diagnosed with cancer, which may have led to the first steps of reconciliation between the pair.

Harry had planned to bring his family to the UK while carrying out a series of events supporting charities and organizations he is close to, including the Invictus Games he founded.

The Duke was in Birmingham as he kicked off the year-long countdown to the Games at the National Exhibition Center (NEC).

The Duchess of Sussex was not at the event and, apart from occasional stops for foreign tours in London, had not made an extended trip to the UK since the late Queen’s funeral in September.

Security issues prevented Meghan and the children from traveling with him on Monday, but it appears concerns over security have eased with the visit to Highgrove being allowed to take place.

Yesterday, it was reported that Meghan will travel to the UK but will not attend any public events.

The Duke of Sussex takes part in a wheelchair rugby session in Birmingham today

Prince Harry and Ade Adepitan at the Invictus Games event at the NEC in Birmingham today

The Duke of Sussex and TV presenter Alison Hammond at the NEC in Birmingham this morning

While Harry’s relationship with his father appears to have thawed, his conflict with William continues and shows no signs of abating.

Harry and Meghan’s meeting with Charles and Camilla took place while William was playing a charity polo match in Windsor.

Catherine wore a casual, sleeveless gingham dress, a departure from her more typical formal style, while cheering on husband Prince William at the Guards Polo Club.

At the inaugural Invictus Games, Prince Harry won the wheelchair rugby exhibition match and was at his own pace, running around the pitch, cheering and crashing opponents with trys.

In an interview on ITV’s This Morning, presenter Alison Hammond told Harry his family should appreciate him.

He replied: ‘They don’t tell me every day that they’re proud of me, but yes I’m proud of them and they’re proud of me; I love my family.’

During a wheelchair rugby match, Harry threw a blind pass over his head into the arms of a teammate who had crossed the try line; The move was praised by TV presenter Ade Adepitan, who won a bronze medal with the Great Britain basketball team at the 2004 Paralympics.

The broadcaster, who played for Harry’s team, which ran out 7-1 winners, said: ‘He made a pass without looking. Have you seen? A no-look pass over his head.

‘So, in the end he said to me ‘it was just a trial and a hope’ but I said ‘shape it, shape it’, that was on purpose.’

The event was part of a series of demonstration sports highlighting the events that will be staged when Birmingham hosts the Invictus Games.

William then wore his navy blue ‘4’ jersey and jodhpurs as the match began

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had their security revoked by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) in 2020. He announced that they would be moving to the US and stepping back from public engagements as royals.

In an explosive interview with the BBC in May 2025, Harry said he still loved the UK ‘despite what some people in that country have done’, adding that it was ‘really sad that I won’t be able to show my homeland to my children’.

While in England, Harry challenged the removal of his security during a two-day appeal hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice – but later lost.

The Duke of Sussex’s lawyer has argued that his decision to remove Met Police armed guards while he was visiting his home country left the royal’s life ‘in danger’.

Harry told the BBC at the time: ‘I can’t see a world at this point where I would bring my wife and children back to England and everything they would miss would be everything. I love my country and I always have, despite what some people in that country have done.

‘That’s why I miss England. I miss parts of the UK. Of course I know. ‘I think it’s really sad that I won’t be able to show my homeland to my children.’

This is a breaking story, more to come