Charles and Harry's 'major turning point': King and son to talk next week after olive branch birthday phone call
15 November 2023, 17:20
The King and Prince Harry will speak again next week after a phone call celebrating Charles's 75th birthday marked a “turning point” in their relationship.
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The Duke of Sussex is believed to have phoned his father on his special day yesterday to wish him Happy Birthday - in a call thought to be the estranged royals' first phone chat in six months.
Meghan is also said to have spoken to her father-in-law to pass on her wishes from the couple's home in California and the couple's children Archie and Lilibet recorded a video of themselves singing happy birthday to their grandfather, the Telegraph reported.
Royal watchers on both sides of the Atlantic have hailed the pair's desire to bury the hatchet.
Read More: Harry and Meghan 'break months of silence' as they call King Charles for 'friendly' birthday chat
Harry and Meghan remained at their Californian home last night when Charles held a glittering birthday dinner at Clarence House which was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The development comes as the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and its devastating aftermath is laid bare in the new series of The Crown which is released tomorrow.
And Harry and Meghan's biographer Omar Scobie shared an explosive extract of his new book, Endgame, leaking explosive claims including that Prince Harry was "kept in the dark"about the Queen's health in the hours before she died.
Scobie has shared an explosive extract of his new book, Endgame, leaking explosive claims including that Prince Harry was 'kept in the dark' about the Queen's health in the hours before she died.
The author also suggests William and Harry's relationship is beyond repair because the Prince of Wales sees his brother as a "defector".
And in the extract shared with People, he claims "there is no going back" for the brothers and "absolutely nothing has changed" since the Duke of Sussex released Spare earlier this year.
Read More: 'Meghanaissance': Meghan may return to tv or write a tell-all memoir as part of a comeback
Charles and Harry are understood to have had minimal contact for months, particularly since the release of Harry's tell-all memoir Spare, published in January, and a Netflix series, which was released the month prior to that.
The Duke made clear in various interviews surrounding the publication of Spare that he wanted to reconcile with his father but he insisted that he wanted an apology from his family before he could move on.
In recent days, the Duke’s office felt obliged to put out a formal correction after reports wrongly suggested he had been invited to the King’s birthday dinner.
In fact, they said, there had been “no contact” regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s birthday celebration, which was largely for close friends.
The apparent dispute was considered by some to be a sign of the deep resentment between the two sides but simply reflected a desire to correct the record.
Those on both sides hope that instead, Prince Harry’s olive branch on the King’s birthday marked a genuine turning point, offering an opportunity for both father and son to move forwards.
