Prince Harry and King Charles' top aides secretly meet in bid to mend royal rift: report
As the rift between Prince Harry and King Charles lll continues to seemingly intensify, senior aides from both sides reportedly met in an effort to begin restoring the broken relationship.
According to The Mail on Sunday, Meredith Maines — the Duke of Sussex’s chief of staff and communications director — flew from Montecito, Calif. to London to meet with King Charles’ communications secretary, Tobyn Andreae, on Wednesday. Liam Maguire, who oversees U.K. press for Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, was also present.
"There's a long road ahead, but a channel of communication is now open for the first time in years," a source told The Mail. "There was no formal agenda, just casual drinks. There were things both sides wanted to talk about."
The informal meeting was reportedly held at the Royal Over-Seas League, a private members’ club.
The source said the meeting was only the "first step towards reconciliation between Harry and his father, but at least it is a step in the right direction."
"Everyone just wants to move on and move forward now. It was finally the right time for the two sides to talk," the source added.
Fox News Digital has learned that Maines was in London to meet with the UK-based communications team, media, stakeholders and senior figures connected to the Duke’s patronages. The visit was entirely routine and part of ongoing planning and engagement.
KING CHARLES' RIFT WITH PRINCE HARRY DEEPENS AS QUEEN CAMILLA REFUSES TO INTERVENE: EXPERTS
Representatives for Buckingham Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The peace summit comes weeks after Harry told the BBC that he'd "love reconciliation" with his family.
"There's no point in continuing to fight anymore," he said.
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The rift between Prince Harry and King Charles ignited after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's royal exit as senior members in 2020.
After their move to California, the couple began to air their grievances in interviews and documentaries. Harry’s 2023 memoir, which detailed embarrassing revelations about the House of Windsor, only worsened tensions with his family.
In televised interviews to promote the book, Harry accused his stepmother, Queen Camilla, of leaking private conversations to the media to burnish her own reputation. He accused members of the royal family of getting "into bed with the devil" to gain favorable tabloid coverage, singling out Camilla’s efforts to rehabilitate her image with the public after her longtime affair with his father.
"That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press," Harry told CBS. "There was open willingness on both sides to trade information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being queen consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street."
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Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner recently told Fox News Digital that Harry’s comments about Camilla were a major blow to the king and likely one of the reasons why he iced his son out.
"It is well known that King Charles can become very upset and hot under the collar," said Pelham Turner. "Certainly, Charles is upset about remarks made … about Camilla. She has used the code of silence on the subject, similar to her own experiences while there were three in the marriage, as stated by Princess Diana."
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told recently People magazine that there has been a desire to reconnect on Charles’s side, but "the underlying issue is trust."
"The king and Prince William don’t trust Harry and Meghan with any kind of confidential conversation," she said.
Insiders told the outlet that William, in particular, "has shown no interest in extending an olive branch."
Fox News Digital's Stephanie Nolasco and Ashley Papa contributed to this post.