Meghan Markle has celebrated the return of her ‘beau’ Prince Harry after his four-day visit to the UK resulted in a reunion with his father.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, commemorated the Duke’s return to Montecito – just in time for his birthday – with a post on the As Ever social media page.
In the Instagram Story, the mother-of-two can be seen pouring two glasses of wine on an ornately adorned wooden board outside, surrounded by flowers.
It comes amid a poignant time for the family, with Harry meeting King Charles face-to-face for the first time in 19 months; before making a trip to Ukraine.
The Duke of Sussex described the monarch as doing well after a long-awaited reconciliation meeting at Clarence House.
On Wednesday, he said of Charles – ‘Yes he’s great, thank you’ – when asked about the catch-up during a reception for the Invictus Games, which he launched in 2014 as a tournament for injured service personnel and veterans.
Appearing relaxed, smiling and upbeat, Harry mingled with corporate sponsors and government ministers as he attended the event in The Gherkin, London, ahead of a speech outlining the next 10 years of his Invictus movement.
The prince arrived at the event 40 minutes later than planned after travelling directly from a private tea with his dad, which lasted for 55 minutes. It was their first meeting in 19 months since the Duke flew to the UK to see Charles in February 2024.
Meghan Markle has celebrated the return of her ‘beau’ Prince Harry after his four-day visit to the UK resulted in a reunion with his father. Both pictured last year
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, commemorated the Duke’s return to Montecito – just in time for his birthday – with a post on the As Ever social media page
The Duke of Sussex described the monarch as doing well after a long-awaited reconciliation meeting at Clarence House. Pictured last week during a visit to take part in a panel discussion on how social action positively impacts mental health
He was spotted being driven into the royal residence in a black Range Rover at 5.20pm before leaving in the same car at around 6.15pm.
Earlier, the King was seen arriving at Clarence House at 4pm, having landed at RAF Northolt at around 3pm following a flight from Aberdeen Airport. Charles met with Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, where he was invested with an MBE.
Charles had flown to the capital after a stay at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, raising the possibility of a meeting with Harry during his son’s four-day stay in Britain.
Harry was due to arrive at the Invictus reception at 6.45pm but organisers said he was running late, before he finally arrived at 7.24pm.
It is believed the Duke travelled to the event straight after seeing his father but traffic has been very heavy in central London this week due to an ongoing Tube strike.
The Duke is today wrapping up his rare four-day trip to the UK, carrying out a string of solo charity visits, but until yesterday had not seen the King or his brother William.
Harry arrived in Britain last Monday and attended the WellChild Awards at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel to celebrate the achievements of seriously ill youngsters.
He then travelled by car to Nottingham on Wednesday to visit the Community Recording Studio and announce a £1.1million personal donation to the BBC’s Children In Need.
On Thursday, Harry was all smiles as he was greeted at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in White City at about 1pm and hugged former Army captain David Henson.
The ex-Royal Engineer served as Team GB captain for the inaugural Invictus Games and attended Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in 2018.
Mr Henson lost both his legs above the knee after standing on an improvised explosive device in 2011 while clearing a compound in Afghanistan. He went on to gain a PhD in Amputee Biomechanics at Imperial.
Harry opened the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in 2013, which was the forerunner of Imperial’s new centre which was launched a few years ago on its White City campus.
Clinically-driven trauma injury research is carried out at the building, and the King visited in February to highlight support for injured soldiers in Ukraine.
Harry’s office said that his foundation has donated $500,000 (£370,000) to projects supporting injured children from Gaza and Ukraine, including helping the World Health Organization with evacuations and work developing prosthetics.
The Duke visited the centre to learn more about its work, especially an increased focus on injuries suffered by children and those sustained in natural disasters.
‘No single organisation can solve this alone,’ Harry said in a statement. ‘Gaza now has the highest density of child amputees in the world and in history.
Prince William pictured visiting Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth, in London last week
Prince William and Kate during a visit to the Women’s Institute in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Pictured on Monday last week
Pictured: Prince Harry arrives for a visit to the Community Recording Studio in Nottingham on Tuesday
The Prince of Wales, meanwhile, visited a youth organisation in Lambeth, south London, yesterday, while his brother Prince Harry was in Nottingham.
Spiral Skills has received funding from the Prince’s homelessness initiative Homewards to move into a new hub for young people at the Oasis Village in Tulse Hill.
During his visit, William visited a music studio and said he was making sure his children are learning to play instruments because music is ‘crucial’.
Prince George, 12, plays guitar, Princess Charlotte, ten, plays piano and Prince Louis, seven, plays the drums.
It appears Charlotte is following in her mother’s footsteps – as the Princess of Wales has previously shown her skills at the piano, giving a surprise performance during the Eurovision finals in 2023, and playing a duet at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Yesterday, the heir to the throne turned down the opportunity to play the drums on a visit to a music charity, saying his son Prince Louis would have done if he had been there.
Asked by 16-year-old Django Brooke whether he wanted to play, William laughed and replied: ‘I’m definitely not a drummer. I’m happy to see you do it, if my youngest was here, he’d have a go, because he’s practising at the moment, but I’d love to hear you do it. But thank you for asking.’
The Prince told the young musicians taking part in a workshop: ‘It’s brilliant, you guys have clearly done a lot of practising, well done, that’s not easy doing that in front of everyone – that’s brilliant.
Prince Harry says his tell-all memoir Spare and Netflix series were ‘not about revenge’ (pictured)
Harry and Meghan during their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. Both pictured during
‘You’ve all got amazing rhythm and it sounds fantastic, I wish I started when I was your age.
‘I couldn’t read music so that was my biggest weakness, I started off playing piano, trumpet and the drums and then realised I had to memorise every tune and it just fell away.
‘I make sure my children learn music because I love music and it’s crucial, really important.’
Meanwhile on Monday, the Prince of Wales said that he ‘couldn’t believe it has been three years’ since the death of his grandmother as he paid tribute to the late Queen on the third anniversary of her death.
Joined by his wife the Princess of Wales, who was a surprise addition to the schedule, Prince William was speaking as he visited the national federation of the Women’s Institute (WI) in Sunningdale, Ascot; just a 16-minute drive away from Windsor Castle, where the Duke of Sussex was understood to have visited his grandmother’s grave.
Over tea and cake, William heard stories of the late Queen and shared some more recent memories of his own family life.
After Harry’s visit, he also made comments about his tell-all memoir Spare and Netflix series – sharing they were ‘not about revenge’.
The Duke, who celebrated his 41st birthday tomorrow, also believes he didn’t air his ‘dirty laundry in public’.
King Charles arrives at Clarence House, in London, ahead of a meeting with his son Harry . Pictured last week
Harry is in Kyiv as part of his work for the Invictus Games and to support Ukraine’s tens of thousands of injured veterans
Harry and William attending the unveiling of a statue of their mother at The Sunken Garden in Kensington on July 1, 2021
‘You cannot have reconciliation before you have truth,’ he added.
Harry made the comments during a visit to Ukraine, just days after a 54-minute reconciliation meeting with his father Charles in a bid to rebuild their relationship.
It was the first time the prince had seen his father in 19 months, and although he says the ‘focus really has to be on my dad’ in the next year, he declared his ‘conscience is clear’.
During a sit-down interview with The Guardian in Kyiv, he said: ‘I know that [speaking out] annoys some people and it goes against the narrative.
‘The book? It was a series of corrections to stories already out there. One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.’
He added: ‘I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public. It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear.’
‘It is not about revenge, it is about accountability,’ he says.
The King is said to be keen to rebuild his relationship with his son and wants to spend time with his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet, whom he has not seen for three years.
‘It’s become clear that Harry now regrets some of his actions. He wants to reset his relationship with his family and with the people of the UK,’ an insider has said.
‘It’s hard to see him ever coming back to live in Britain but this may be the start of something that at least allows them to be a functioning wider family again.’
It came after Prince Harry’s spokesman said he ‘loved’ being back in the UK and ‘catching up’ with his good causes and friends.
The Duke of Sussex wrapped up his trip with a visit to a charity set up in memory of his mother, one day after reuniting with the King for the first time in 19 months.
His spokesperson gave an upbeat review of the UK tour, saying: ‘He’s obviously loved being back in the UK, catching up with old friends, colleagues and just generally being able to support the incredible work of the causes that mean so much to him.’
The Duke carried out his final engagement on Friday, an event linked to the Diana Award, in central London as he brought his four-day solo trip to a close.
In May, after losing his High Court battle with the Home Office, Harry himself told the BBC that he would ‘would love a reconciliation’ with the Royal Family, adding: ‘There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious’.
