It may have been 19 months in the making and just 54 minutes long, but the Duke of Sussex's reunion with the King today marked a first step in the family reconciliation he has long hoped for. Prince Harry was driven through the gates of Clarence House at 5.20 to spend time with his father, who had flown back from Balmoral a few hours earlier.
The meeting – a private tea – had been under consideration for some time, but both camps had firmly refused to be drawn on whether it would actually happen.
Only once Harry had departed, ducking down in the back of his car as it pulled out of the gates at 6.14pm, did Buckingham Palace confirm that the reunion had taken place.
The meeting appears to have gone well, with Harry saying of his father: "Yes he's great, thank you" as he arrived at an Invictus Games event.
This was very much what Harry has been longing for – a chance to see his father face to face and begin to rebuild what has been a very fractured relationship in recent years.
But for a rapprochement to work, it’s vital for the King to know that he can trust his youngest son to keep their discussions private.
The very public airing of private family matters in TV interviews and the pages of his memoir Spare left Harry cut adrift from most of his royal relatives, and his brother the Prince of Wales in particular.
© MirrorpixThe King, who continues to live with cancer, had felt unable to speak to his youngest son while his legal battle with the Home Office over his security provision was ongoing.
But when Harry lost the case, the path to a potential reunion opened up, the likelihood growing stronger when the King’s communications secretary Tobyn Andreae was pictured meeting his Archewell counterparts, Meredith Maines and Liam Maguire back in July.
And while contact between the Duke and his father has been minimal for some time, "the door was never completely shut," according to one source I spoke to earlier this week.
At the Wellchild Awards on Monday, Harry looked happier and more relaxed on home turf than I’ve seen him for a long time, and is said to be looking forwards, rather than back.
© Getty ImagesLet's hope this marks a fresh start for the King and his son. As Harry himself said earlier this year, "There's no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious."
