Prince Harry and King Charles reunited for the first time in 19 months, sharing a private 55-minute tea meeting at Clarence House before Harry attended his Invictus Games reception.

Prince Harry has described his father King Charles III as “great” following a long-awaited private reunion in London, their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year and a half.

The Duke of Sussex, who has been on a rare four-day visit to the UK, sat down with the Monarch at Clarence House on Wednesday evening for a private tea that lasted just 55 minutes.

While brief, the encounter is being seen as a significant step in the fraught relationship between father and son.

Harry, 40, was driven through the gates of Clarence House at 5:20pm in a black Range Rover, shortly after Charles had arrived from Scotland following his summer retreat at Balmoral.

The King, who landed at RAF Northolt earlier that afternoon, had first carried out a duty at the residence, investing Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg with an MBE.

At 6:15pm, Harry was seen departing, reportedly heading straight into London traffic as he made his way to The Gherkin for an Invictus Games reception.

Appearing upbeat and relaxed when he finally arrived nearly 40 minutes late, the Duke mingled with corporate sponsors, ministers, and veterans before delivering a keynote speech outlining the next decade of his Invictus movement.

Asked directly about his meeting with the King, Harry gave a brief but telling response: “Yes, he’s great, thank you.”

The reunion marks the first time the pair have been seen together since February 2024, when Harry made a rushed trip to London after learning of his father’s cancer diagnosis.

That visit lasted just 30 minutes, with Charles departing almost immediately for Sandringham to recuperate.

Since then, relations between the Sussexes and the wider Royal Family have remained strained, with Harry and Meghan living in California and carrying out their philanthropic work independently of the monarchy.

This latest encounter comes at a symbolic moment for Harry, who on Monday privately marked the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death by laying flowers at her resting place in Windsor.

Though just seven miles away, he did not meet with his brother Prince William, who was carrying out his own engagements in Berkshire to honor their grandmother.

William, now Prince of Wales, has maintained a frosty distance from his younger brother following explosive claims made in Harry’s memoir *Spare* and subsequent interviews.

The Clarence House tea, though short, appears to have been a deliberate effort at reconciliation, at least between Harry and his father.

Senior aides had been spotted together in London this summer in what sources suggested was a tentative opening of communication channels between the two sides.

For Harry, who has spoken publicly about his desire for reconciliation, the meeting was a crucial gesture. “I would love reconciliation with my family,” he told one interviewer earlier this year. “There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore.”

Harry’s UK visit has been filled with both charity work and symbolism. On Tuesday, he visited a youth recording studio in Nottingham and announced a £1.1 million personal donation to Children In Need.

On Wednesday afternoon, just hours before his meeting with the King, he toured the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in White City.

There, he reunited with longtime friend and Invictus ambassador David Henson, a double amputee who has known Harry since the Games’ inception in 2014.

Henson, who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan, praised Harry’s continued commitment to injured veterans. “It’s been hugely important for raising the profile of the centre,” Henson said.

Harry’s visit coincided with Archewell Foundation announcing \$500,000 in grants to projects supporting injured children in Gaza and Ukraine, including medical evacuations and prosthetics research.

At The Gherkin later that evening, Harry injected humor into his delayed arrival. “I think this whole thing has been delayed slightly,” he joked to the crowd of supporters, “so at this point you’re all hammered—which was part of the plan all along.”

But he quickly turned serious, delivering a passionate speech about the future of the Invictus Games.

“We live in a time when conflicts rage across the globe, when anger and resentment towards those who are different can feel overwhelming,” he said. “The Invictus community stands as a direct challenge to that. We prove that unity is not just possible, but formidable.”

Founded in 2014, the Invictus Games have become one of Harry’s most enduring legacies, giving injured and sick service personnel and veterans a platform for recovery through sport.

Over the past decade, the Games have been staged in London, Orlando, Toronto, Sydney, The Hague, Düsseldorf, and most recently Vancouver-Whistler in 2025. Birmingham is slated to host the next Games in 2027.

The reunion with Charles also comes against a backdrop of ongoing tensions within the Royal Family. Harry’s accusations against his brother William, including claims of a physical altercation and past indiscretions, still loom large.

His relationship with Queen Camilla remains strained as well, with the Duke previously describing her in harsh terms in his memoir.

Meanwhile, Harry has also been fighting legal battles in Britain over his security arrangements, publicly lamenting that his father has avoided direct communication because of it.

Still, Harry’s smile and positive tone on Wednesday suggested at least a partial thaw. While there were no signs of him meeting William during this trip, the Clarence House tea may signal that Harry and his father are inching toward some form of reconciliation.

At the very least, the brief but symbolic 55 minutes spent over tea represented a gesture both men were willing to make, despite months of distance.

For now, Harry remains focused on his charity work. His office emphasized that Archewell’s grants will directly aid children impacted by war, a cause deeply personal to the former army officer who served two tours in Afghanistan.

“It takes partnerships across government, science, medicine, humanitarian response and advocacy to ensure children survive and can recover after blast injuries,” he said during his visit.

The King, for his part, has returned to his royal schedule after his summer break, continuing to balance official duties with his recovery.

Whether the father-son meeting leads to further reconciliation remains to be seen, but Harry’s words—“Yes, he’s great”—have at least given the public a glimpse of hope after years of fractured ties.

In a week filled with symbolism, charitable commitments, and family tension, perhaps it was that quiet 55-minute tea at Clarence House that mattered most.