King Charles met his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet for the first time in four years on Friday, at his private residence, Highgrove. Prince Harry and Meghan brought the children to the UK during Harry's visit to promote the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, and the reunion took place at the end of that trip.
The visit almost didn't happen this way. Buckingham Palace had denied the Sussex family Metropolitan Police protection, and that decision put Meghan and the children's participation in doubt for weeks. Meghan ended up pulling out of several public engagements tied to the trip, though she was still able to join the private family meeting at Highgrove.
Charles had seen Archie and Lilibet once before, back in 2022, but Archie was only three and Lilibet just one, so neither child is likely to remember that first meeting. This time, both are old enough that it may actually stick.
On the Invictus Games side, Harry spent Thursday and Friday in Birmingham, where a train called the "Spirit of Invictus" launched the countdown to next year's Games. Harry took part in a run of sporting events and talked about what bringing the Games back to the UK means, thirteen years after London first hosted in 2014.
Palace sources confirmed the Highgrove meeting to Newsweek, calling it one of the trip's few unqualified wins after a rocky start.