Queen Camilla is ‘discouraging’ Prince Harry and King Charles meeting in London – expert

Prince Harry is due in the UK for a rare visit where he will honour the achievements of seriously ill youngsters and their families.

But as with his other recent trips back to his homeland, attention has turned to whether he will meet up with his father King Charles during his time back in the UK. Harry is due to attend the WellChild awards ceremony in London tonight in his role as the charity’s patron, a position he has held for more than 15 years.

There has been speculation about whether Harry will make a trip to Scotland to spend time with his father the King, who is undergoing cancer treatment. When Harry last visited the UK in May for a service at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Invictus Games, the father and son failed to meet.

There has been tension in their relationship, especially since Harry released his controversial memoir Spare and his bombshell Netflix series with wife Meghan Markle, where they railed against their royal relatives.

And according to one royal expert, one royal keen for them not to meet up is the King’s wife and Harry’s stepmother, Queen Camilla. Writing in the Sunday Times, the Daily Beast royal editor Tom Sykes said: “Neither side would definitively tell me whether a meeting is planned on this trip, but all the indications so far are that it is not. The King is in Scotland, gathering his strength for a forthcoming trip to Australia. The Queen, her friends have told me, is keen that Charles doesn’t get unnecessarily stressed out and is not encouraging a meeting.”

“For Harry, there can be no meaningful rehabilitation as a royal without reconciliation. His father’s recent health scare has added a sense of urgency to that quest.”

The King is believed to be spending time at his Balmoral home and it is thought he has not seen Harry since the duke rushed to his father’s side after Charles’s cancer diagnosis was announced in February.

The WellChild Awards celebrate the inspiring qualities of some of the country’s seriously ill young people and the dedication of those who keep them healthy and happy, including health, social care and education professionals. Harry regularly attends the annual event hosted by WellChild, the national charity which provides a nationwide network of nurses, home makeover projects and family support programmes.