A royal source has revealed the Prince of Wales had a "very emotional" first meeting with granddaughter Lili, and a special reunion with grandson Archie whilst the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were visiting the UK.
Charles, next in line for the throne, and the Duchess of Cornwall were reportedly "absolutely thrilled" to see Harry, Meghan, and their children when the family briefly travelled from California to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee earlier this month. Lili's first birthday fell during their stay, and she was able to meet her namesake, great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth, for the first time too.
At the briefing of Clarence House’s annual review, a senior royal source said it had been “wonderful” to have the Sussexes back in the UK at the start of June. They said: "It was fantastic to see them. It was wonderful to have them back in Britain. The prince and the duchess were absolutely thrilled to see them.
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“The prince, of course, hasn’t seen his grandson Archie for a bit of time and so it was very, very, very special to have some time with him. He hadn’t met Lili, his granddaughter, and so to meet her was very emotional, a very, very wonderful thing.”
Harry and his wife Meghan have been subject to a lot of discussion, after Harry quit his post as a senior working royal in 2020, before the pair used an interview with Oprah Winfrey to accuse an unnamed royal of being racist towards their son before he was born, and the wider institution of failing to help Meghan when she had suicidal thoughts.
Allegations surfaced against Meghan in 2021, claiming she had driven out two personal assistances and left staff "humiliated" whilst they worked for her as part of the royal household. Harry is said to have a troubled relationship with Charles, speaking about how he felt let down by his father, who allegedly stopped taking his calls at one stage.
Although Harry and Meghan appeared at the jubilee service of thanksgiving in St Paul’s Cathedral, they sat far across the aisle from Charles and the Cambridges, and did not take part in any other public jubilee festivities. The briefing at Clarence House, Charles' London office and official residence, revealed he had continued to support the duke and duchess with a "substantial sum" until Summer 2020 following high-profile "Megxit", despite Harry's claims his family "literally cut me off financially".
Harry and Meghan went on to secure multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify after moving to the US, and have now reached a level of financial independence. The royal source added: “Great credit to them. They said they wanted to transition to financial independence and that has now been achieved.”
Charles’s bill for the activities of William and Harry and their families, and other costs including capital expenditure and transfer to reserves, has dropped by £1.2 million over two years, with the Sussexes no longer listed in the accounts.
The amount fell from £5.61 million in 2019-20 when the Sussexes were still working royals to £4.38 million in 2021-22 when Charles is no longer funding the couple. It has not been detailed what proportion of this related to the Sussexes.
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