King reunites with his grandchildren but denies Harry and Meghan their photo op

King Charles III on Friday hosted a long-awaited but already much-debated reunion with his errant son, Prince Harry, his American wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, at his country estate.

The meeting, “shrouded in secrecy,” took place at Highgrove, Charles’ private Gloucestershire residence, a short drive from Birmingham, where Harry has been attending events to mark the 2027 Invictus Games in that city, the Daily Mail reported. The king has not seen his grandchildren since 2022, because of his sad and bitter estrangement from his son over his and Meghan’s public criticism of the royal family and their attempts to monetize their connections to the monarchy.

As of Friday, not much is being said about the meeting, with Buckingham Palace refusing to discuss any further details about what was described as a “private family occasion,” the Daily Mail and other outlets reported. The palace also said no images would be released — which means that neither Harry nor Meghan will be able to publish any happy family photos of Archie and Lilibet with the king.

Critics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have said that Meghan, especially, was probably hoping for a photo op with the king, so that she could use it to promote her royal connections, her personal brand and her As Ever lifestyle products. But Charles and his palace aides have denied the former TV actor that opportunity, according to the Daily Mail and the Times.

While many on both sides of the Atlantic will see the meeting as a triumph of family reunification and “grandfatherly tenderness,” especially for a 77-year-old king who is living with cancer, the Daily Mail reported that palace courtiers remain “weary and wary” of the whole situation, given that Harry and Meghan have a documented history of leaking information about private family occasions to the media for public relations purposes. Harry also has “vilified” his father and stepmother, Queen Camilla, in multiple interviews, documentaries and his memoir, “Spare,” the Daily Mail said.

Many, though, prefer to see the bright side and hope that this meeting, which also included Camilla, leads to a further thaw in family relations.

“This is such wonderful news!!! The children and King Charles need that family connection!” one person wrote in response to an article about the reunion on the People magazine site, which tends to be pro-Harry and Meghan. “That’s what civilized people do, they get together to discuss things and reconcile with family for the sake of the children,” another person said.

But even on the People site, some commenters were measured in their reaction, especially when it comes to Harry and Meghan. “I also am happy for King Charles and hope it is a joyous visit with no ulterior motives,” one person said, while another remarked: “I’m glad to see that Harry and Meghan are smartening and growing up by coming around to the fact that being a victim is an unhealed wound which seems to get payback until it doesn’t … Life is short, as a grandparent, I know how amazing it is to have a grandchild.”

Pretty harsh criticism of the meeting also poured in on various social media platforms. Criticism also came from royal journalists like Tom Sykes on his The Royalist Substack. He and others pointed out that Charles, as king, is no ordinary grandfather but is the head of the British government. He and others also have accused Harry of spending the past six years trying to undermine the authority of the British government by raging against its monarchy and showing disrespect to his home country’s institutions.

Sykes and others say that a “petulant,” “entitled” Harry also has spent the past several weeks whipping up “confected,” back-and-forth media “psychodrama” over his family’s travel plans to the U.K. and security arrangements, while resorting to the “emotional blackmail” of the king by suggesting the king wouldn’t see his grandchildren unless he intervened to make sure his son got the automatic, taxpayer-funded police security he wanted.

Throughout all the drama, the king has refused to intervene on the police security issue, given that the issue is a British government and Home Office decision, Sykes reported. According to the Daily Mail, the king also finally “snapped” and told Harry that he wasn’t welcome to stay at Buckingham Palace this week after he dithered for weeks and past a deadline for accepting his father’s offer of accommodations,

Moreover, Harry suffered “crushing” and potentially reputation-running legal defeat this week, with a British court ruling that he had no evidence to file a lawsuit, accusing Daily Mail journalists of engaging in unethical behavior while reporting on stories about him 15 years ago or more. Harry responded to the ruling by issuing a blistering statement that essentially accused the judge, who works in his father’s court, of making a corrupt decision by saying he engaged in “a complete and obvious whitewash” of the case.

“Today, at Highgrove, the King paid the ransom,” Tom Sykes wrote on his Substack. He and others have said that Harry and Meghan desperately needed an audience with the king, given that the duchess’s As Ever brand is struggling and this week’s court judgment could be catastrophic to their finances if they end up having to pay millions in legal fees after losing the case. Their reputation is “in the toilet,” Sykes said.

“The palace machine will wrap this in the language of grandfatherly tenderness, but this was a capitulation,” Sykes wrote. “A total, unconditional capitulation, and I’m afraid it exposes a fatal flaw in Charles that is the flip side of his cultured, artistic and humane nature: he is a soft touch.”

Others online were more harsh in their judgment of Charles, calling him “weak,” or worse. “All respect for The King gone. Utterly stupid gullible old man,” one person wrote on the X account for the Times and Sunday Times. Another person called Charles “a disgrace,” while yet another said, “Harry and Meghan are desperate for that royal connection to revive their toxic brand.”