Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, reportedly held private “crisis talks” after learning that King Charles III had met with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Highgrove House earlier this summer, according to a report published in Woman magazine citing unnamed palace sources.
Royal correspondent Emily Andrews, writing in the magazine, said sources close to the palace described William and Kate as feeling “betrayed and possibly even humiliated” by the king’s decision to meet privately with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. According to Andrews, the reaction stemmed in part from what the couple views as a long pattern of public criticism directed at the royal family by Harry and Meghan in the years since their 2020 departure from official duties. “They have been humiliated on more than one occasion by both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and seeing them swan back to the UK must, I’m sure, sting,” Andrews wrote.
The Highgrove meeting, which took place at the king’s private Gloucestershire residence and Harry’s childhood home, reportedly lasted only a couple of hours, according to the report, potentially just long enough for Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, to play in a treehouse King Charles had originally built for William when he was a child. Buckingham Palace confirmed the visit within hours after it occurred, though the palace did not release additional details or a photograph from the gathering, according to the report.
Andrews characterized the palace’s swift, if limited, public confirmation of the meeting as signaling a broader shift in approach toward the Sussexes. “It appeared to announce a policy of appeasement to the Sussexes,” Andrews wrote, adding that despite criticism the couple has directed at British institutions, including the judiciary, the government and the monarchy itself, “they will not be cast out.”
According to the report, William is believed to have urged his father not to meet with Harry and Meghan, reflecting the future king’s continued frustration over his brother’s public criticism of the family through a series of high-profile media appearances, including an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Netflix documentary series “Harry & Meghan,” and Harry’s 2023 memoir, “Spare.” Andrews wrote that William believes the couple should not have been rewarded with a family meeting with the king, however private, given that history. “His father has gone ahead, while William is the one carrying an ever-growing share of the actual work and popularity of the monarchy,” Andrews wrote, framing the dynamic as one in which William feels he has shouldered institutional responsibilities that Harry stepped away from.
Andrews argued that the king’s willingness to meet with the Sussexes represents a departure from the approach taken by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022. “Charles’ first duty is not to the spare. It is to the heir and his wife. That is the deal Queen Elizabeth II understood and honoured for 70 years: the institution comes first, sentiment a distant second,” Andrews wrote, characterizing the Highgrove meeting overall as “a triumph for Harry and Meghan.”
The report also suggested the meeting may represent the culmination of an 18-month effort by Harry and Meghan to re-establish themselves within both Britain and the royal family, a strategy Andrews suggested could ultimately benefit the couple’s public profile and business ventures if it leads to more frequent visits to the UK going forward. Andrews wrote that a pattern of regular return visits would effectively unravel the terms of the couple’s 2020 departure from royal duties, often referred to as “Megxit,” describing any such arrangement as “the half-in/half-out that the late Queen explicitly forbade.”
Despite their reported frustration, Andrews wrote that William and Kate have limited options for influencing the situation directly. “What can William and Kate do? Not much, if we’re honest, until William is King,” Andrews wrote, adding that William rarely discusses Harry within royal circles but that the king’s decision to meet with the Sussexes “is sure to sting.”
The report also highlighted an apparent shift in the palace’s public messaging around the visit. According to Andrews, palace officials had described Harry’s earlier refusal to bring his children to the UK without enhanced security arrangements as “emotional blackmail” just three weeks before the Highgrove meeting took place, a characterization Andrews said changed noticeably in tone following the reunion. A source close to the king, cited in the report, said Charles “will never shut the door on the possibility of spending time with his family because, despite all the trouble, blood is blood.”
Andrews wrote that significant mistrust remains between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace despite the Highgrove meeting, and that while Harry appeared eager to use his recent UK visit to repair family relationships alongside his other engagements, his relationship with William and Kate specifically remains severely strained. “It’s also clear that Kate and William will not forgive him for Spare,” Andrews wrote, concluding that while the couple remains united with each other, “their relationship with Harry and Meghan seems to be broken forever.”
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