A tale of two houses: The royals put on a show while Harry visits hospital… but still no meeting between father and son

This was a tale of two houses, Windsor and Montecito. Both had gone on public maneuvers yesterday, but only one seemed truly in his element.

Days after family dramas were in the public eye, the King and Queen and the Prince of Wales were soaking up the sun, taking in the views of the capital and the South Coast, focusing on long-planned public events.

For Her Majesty, it was a trip to London Zoo to celebrate her 200th birthday; Here they did a health check on a penguin, fed a giant Galapagos tortoise, and even painted the shell of a tiny snail.

The King wore stylish sunglasses and coolly refused to take off his heavy suit jacket despite the intense heat; Queen Camilla wore a beautiful umbrella and an animal print dress.

They playfully participated in every animal whim; Camilla was all smiles as she named a queen bee after herself, while the king chatted and gesticulated with them, sending the crowd roaring.

Meanwhile, William was in Hastings, East Sussex; Here he rode a Victorian funicular, played crazy golf and spent a happy day with dozens of schoolchildren he encountered on the beach.

Tanned, relaxed and talkative, he looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.

This was in marked contrast to images of his estranged brother trying to recreate the magic of old at Birmingham Children’s Hospital on behalf of WellChild, one of his longest associations.

Queen Camilla wore a beautiful umbrella and animal print dress during yesterday’s visit.

The King refused to take off his heavy suit jacket despite the intense heat yesterday

King and Queen check Humboldt penguin’s health at Penguin Beach

The monarch was also seen feeding a 32-year-old giant Galapagos tortoise named Polly.

King III. Charles marked the snails with purple ‘Snail Polish’ before they were released

Although he’s clearly passionate and takes on all the elements you’d expect of a traditional royal visit (talking to children, cutting a cake and posing for photos with a group of nurses), the carefully curated video footage shows Harry, 41, minus the familiar lather and looking slightly lost behind his eyes.

It hasn’t been a good week for the prince, following a spectacular row with his father over royal accommodation for the trip that saw Buckingham Palace publicly slap him on Monday and a heavy loss to the Daily Mail in the High Court over allegations of illegal doxxing, which were rudely dismissed by a senior judge on Tuesday.

Having planned only a small, carefully selected group of journalists to cover the UK duty week on a ‘pool’ basis, the media team removed all media access from events at the Royal Infirmary in Chelsea the following day.

The prince entered the building quietly, avoiding reporters and photographers gathered outside.

Buckingham Palace had hoped this week would see a ‘peaceful’ trip where the Sussexes could quietly meet their grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet for the first time in four years.

Prince William was in Hastings where he visited youth and community-focused organizations

Prince of Wales delights crowds during visit to miniature golf park in Hastings

Prince William met with young people and volunteers in the Common Room at Eagle House, which doubles as a ‘public living room’ and youth club

The royals also enjoyed a game of crazy golf during their visit to Hastings Adventure Miniature Golf

But leaks, distortions, psychodrama and theatrics from Team Sussex in recent weeks have made a simple visit completely impossible.

This doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

It has now been reported that the Duchess of Sussex and her two children, Archie and Lilibet, could arrive in the UK this weekend.

It was said that the King, whose patience has been tested to the limit lately, is ready to meet despite everything.

That doesn’t mean he’s in the mood to forgive or forget the ugly injustices his younger son has committed over the past few years.

But he is a pragmatic man who, at 77, continues to live with cancer (though he is doing very well, according to his doctors).

And many people, including himself, believe that children should not be made to suffer, even if the mess is the work of their parents.

Prince Harry met with young people receiving care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital yesterday

During his visit to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the Duke of Sussex, along with his mother Kelly and father Stuart, met Alec Hill, a 12-year-old patient with a rare chromosome disorder and immune system disease.

12-year-old patient Wyatt Makwana, born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, met Prince Harry with his father Brian.

Prince Harry visits Birmingham Children’s Hospital to celebrate 20th anniversary of first WellChild Nurse

If, as expected, the Sussexes make their home in Althorp, the ancestral home of Harry’s maternal family, the Spencers, for the next few days, there may not be a meeting until later this week, or possibly even on Monday, before Their Royal Highnesses begin a busy week of engagements.

Highgrove, Sandringham or Windsor could be a venue; Harry has made it clear that he will not be bringing his family to London as he believes London is ‘unsafe’.

I am told that discussions on the issue remain live and continue behind the scenes.

While the King is still willing to cooperate, it is now up to Harry to snatch at least one small victory from the jaws of defeat.

How he conducts such a meeting can determine the entire future of family relations between two rival households.