Hopes for a reconciliation between Prince Harry and the royal family are growing as experts warn him to stay in Britain and keep his meetings with the king private.
Harry flew 5,000 miles from California yesterday to see his father 45 minutes after the King’s shock diagnosis.
But while Harry’s transatlantic jaunt raised hopes that he would continue to heal wounds with his family, there has been no “any sign” of a reunion between the Duke of Sussex and his brother Prince William.
Royal expert Phil Dampier gave MailOnline his opinion on the prospect of Harry and Charles meeting again.
He said: ‘I don’t think anyone knows at the moment, not even themselves. It’s a first step – it’s a kind of ice-breaker meeting – Harry would like to know how the king is doing – and go from there.
“I think the most important thing is that when he returns to California, none of this conversation with the King becomes public.
King Charles and Queen Camilla attend Sunday service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham Estate on February 4
Prince Harry is seen in the car as he arrives at Clarence House to meet his father, King Charles
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‘The trust will be gone if he starts leaking things. If nothing has leaked after a few weeks, confidence returns.
‘I think it would be suicide if Harry did that. It would be completely counterproductive and make his journey pointless.
“I would say the jury is out. This is his last chance to regain some confidence.’
He added: “If anything leaks out we will be back to square one and that will destroy any chances of a reconciliation with William.
“I don’t think he wants to forgive him right now.”
Meanwhile, BBC Royal correspondent Daniela Relph said the chances of a reconciliation between William and Harry remain unlikely given their ongoing feud.
“It’s a brother-sister relationship that still looks incredibly fractured. We do not know if either side contacted in any way, if any attempts were made to reach a truce. As things stand now, there seems to be nothing to indicate that,” she told Radio 4.
‘You have to read that as a sign of the state of their relationship, there is nothing in the diary that they have to meet while Harry is in Britain.
“It also means that Harry will not visit his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, who has been ill, someone he was once close to.”
Harry is unlikely to visit his brother’s wife Kate as she recovers at home with her husband and three children – George, Charlotte and Louis – who recently underwent abdominal surgery.
Speaking about Harry’s meeting with Charles, Mrs Relph said: ‘This is a father and son who have seen very little of each other over the last four years.
‘The relationship has been incredibly tense and complicated.
‘It mattered that Harry was here, it mattered that the King wanted to see him.
‘Very different when it comes to his brother the Prince of Wales, Harry and William will not see each other.’
The Duke of Sussex was one of the first family members to visit Charles after his shock diagnosis was made public.
According to The Telegraph, a new visit from Harry to his father has not been ruled out, but it is clear that the duke will not visit his older brother during his stay in London.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman told Radio 4 it was common for feuding families to ‘come together’ in difficult times.
Mr Hardman said: ‘In times of crisis, families do come together and I think everyone will be happy to see that.
King Charles is seen with his youngest son Prince Harry in 1995, when the Duke of Sussex was still a child
King Charles is seen with his wife Queen Camilla as they leave by car from Clarence House in London yesterday
Princess Anne smiles as she speaks to military personnel during her visit to the Defense Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training Regiment at St. George’s Barracks today
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‘I think there is a bit of a business as usual feeling and that is very much a message that the palace is trying to get across, but if we see a number of bridges being built along the way then that must be a good sign.’ thing.’
Did Charles delay his flight back to Sandringham from Buckingham Palace yesterday so he could spend a few precious minutes with his youngest son?
The royal helicopter that picked up the king and queen circled Surrey for almost 13 minutes before arriving at Buckingham Palace.
Flight Tracker data shows that the mauve-coloured Sikorsky S-76C of The King’s Helicopter Flight flew two laps around Surrey before entering central London.
Harry was seen leaving Clarence House at 3.31pm after spending just over 45 minutes with his father following the revelation on Monday that the King was battling cancer.
Charles, who had been in London for treatment, left Clarence House just seven minutes later with Camilla at 3.38pm to board the helicopter in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, suggesting their bags were already packed.
Royal historian Kelly Swaby told Radio 4 that a health crisis like Charles’s is “always an opportunity for a truce” after a family dispute.
“The reaction that the Royal Family is showing at this moment, I think, would be the same in every family across the country. A health scare – major health news is always an opportunity for a truce or a reappraisal of a situation in one’s personal life, so I think we should take Prince Harry’s return to Britain as a sign that there may be a temporary truce’ , she said.
“A son returns to visit his father, who has just received terrible news.”
However, biographer Ingrid Seward told GB News that Harry’s return to London is ‘not helpful’ and will cause ‘problems’.
‘My first reaction is: how useless is that? That’s not very nice of me. I just thought you really don’t need someone getting into this mix at this somewhat tense moment, which is going to cause more problems than they can solve,” she said.
‘Of course Harry wants to see his father and he has had no argument with his father, despite what he has said about the Queen. Charles has remained very calm about it.
‘But the royal family don’t like to be confronted with these emotional problems and I think Harry will come here, he will be very nice to everyone, everyone will be very nice to him, and then they will just hope that he comes back nice again. soon.’