Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla are in the United States to repair relations between the two countries. The four-day state visit began on Monday (April 27) when the British royal couple met US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a private tea at the White House.

The visit is, however, unlikely to bring a family reunion. King Charles is not expected to meet his son, Prince Harry, during the trip. But why?

We take a look.

King Charles’ US itinerary

King Charles and Queen Camilla attended a garden party at the British ambassador’s residence on Monday after a private tea at the White House. They interacted with media leaders, Washington socialites and US officials there.

On Tuesday, the British monarch is set to address the US Congress, emphasising the importance of unity with the US in a 20-minute speech, reported Reuters. This will be the second time that a British sovereign will address both houses.

His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, delivered a speech at the US Capitol during a state visit in 1991.

King Charles will take part in a state dinner at the White House on Tuesday night.

Buckingham Palace previously announced that Charles “will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence”.

The British royal couple will travel to New York City on Wednesday to commemorate the victims killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Charles and Camilla’s US trip will conclude in Virginia on Thursday, where they will attend a block party to celebrate America’s birthday, as per a Fox News report.

Charles will also visit a national park, while Camilla will be on a farm to underscore the work of America’s horse racing industry.

After the four-day US tour, the royals will travel to Bermuda. It will be Charles’ first trip as king to an overseas British territory, reported People magazine.

Why Harry is missing from Charles’ US visit

During his US visit, King Charles does not appear to be headed to a reunion with Harry, his 41-year-old son who lives in Southern California with his wife, Meghan, and their two children.

According to Sky News contributor Sophie Elsworth, there is “absolutely no way” King Charles will meet
Prince Harry while in the US.

“Absolutely not … Harry just keeps coming out and speaking when he shouldn’t and really, should stay out of international affairs,” Elsworth told Sky News host Pera Credlin. “He’s no longer a working royal, but he’s pretending to be one.”

British journalist Rob Shuter reported, citing several insiders, in the Monday edition of his Naughty But Nice Substack that Charles will host a reception for the King’s Trust in NYC on Wednesday evening. However, the Duke of Sussex will not be present.

“Anna [Wintour] and Martha [Stewart] made the guest list,” a source revealed. “Harry and Meghan [Markle] did not.”

A source told Shuter that there were talks about a private meeting between the father and son in NYC. But the idea was dropped after the Sussexes’ “quasi-royal” four-day visit to Australia.

“That trip killed it,” the source claimed. “The palace saw the optics and pulled back fast.”

The source alleged Prince Harry “wants the meeting for all the wrong reasons,” noting “the palace wants distance.”

Earlier this month, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, waving to small crowds and paying visits to various charities and causes they promoted in what appeared to be a royal tour but was not.

Harry and Meghan, who have been living in the US for six years, are no longer working royals.

Observers say Charles would avoid meeting Harry to prevent the focus of his visit from shifting from mending ties with Washington to his son.

Shannon Felton Spence, former head of Politics and Communication at the British Consulate General of New England, told Fox News Digital, “The king will be in the US at the invitation of President Trump.”

“He will be on official business as head of state, and to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. Therefore, the programme and guest lists are controlled by the State Department and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”

“This is very different from a normal royal visit, and it’s entirely different from a private trip,” she said. “There is a lot hinging on this trip between the US and the UK, which have incredibly frayed relations at the moment. Every aspect of the programme will be diplomatically strategic and coordinated.”

King Charles’ itinerary was planned “with meticulous care” much in advance, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams was quoted as saying by Fox News Digital.

“The focus must be on the principals,” he underlined. “There is simply no place for Prince Harry in this plan. It is essential that they focus on the host and visitors only, not on a situation where attention could be diverted by a media frenzy. This has to be avoided.”

Speaking to USA Today, John McDermott, cofounder of Caloroga Shark Media, said that Harry and Charles’ reunion also would not be “good PR”.

“One of the complications is if Charles did meet with Harry, it overshadows the whole trip, and the point of the trip is the state visit,” McDermott said.

He predicted that the family reunion could overshadow the point of the trip and cause “competing narratives” to emerge.

“If one of the royals goes out, they’ve got all the spotlight on them,” the producer said. He also said that while Prince William and Princess Kate will celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, their public presence in the UK will also be muted to ensure the spotlight remains on the British monarch’s US visit. “This week’s agenda is Charles and Camilla, and again, if you meet with Harry, that becomes the story.”

Harry-Charles’ fragile relationship

The British royal family had a public fallout when Harry withdrew from royal duties, along with his wife, in 2020.

The couple moved to California to launch several media ventures and charitable work.

Following his self-imposed exile, Harry’s protection was downgraded from full-time while he was in the UK to being considered on a case-by-case basis. Harry lost an appeal in court last year to overturn the decision.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Harry and Meghan alleged a member of the royal family had expressed concerns about the skin tone of their first child, Prince Archie, before he was born.

Harry, in his controversial tell-all memoir, Spare, made wild accusations about his family. He alleged that his brother, Prince William, had physically attacked him during an argument over Meghan.

He also claimed that his brother and his wife, Kate, encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005 and “howled” with laughter when they saw it.

Harry told the BBC in an interview last May that his father had not been speaking to him due to his legal battle with the UK Home Office.

People close to Prince Harry told People magazine that King Charles was avoiding his calls and not replying to his messages.

However, Harry expressed a desire to reconcile with his family. He admitted that “some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book… they will never forgive me for lots of things” but he added that he “would love reconciliation with my family.”

“There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious.”

This was a notable shift in Harry’s tone from his previous criticism of the royal family.

Last September,
Charles and Harry met for the first time in 19 months. The duo had a private tea at Clarence House in London, with the meeting lasting for about 50 minutes. During that trip, Harry did not see William.

Harry produced a six-part Netflix series about his relationship with Meghan, where he detailed his rift with his brother, William.

“Charles would like to reconcile with his son, of course, as a father and a son, and Harry would like to be closer with his father, and then somewhere in the middle is William’s opinion,” McDermott told USA Today, suggesting William’s hesitancy arises from “the philosophy that comes from Elizabeth’s reign of ’the monarchy comes first.’”

He added, “If Harry is out there doing things outside the normal royal family protocols, it complicates things, and William appears to just want to have a streamlined monarchy where everything is in line.”

McDermott predicted that a reunion would eventually happen as the British royals would need Harry and Meghan.

As per the People article, Charles and Harry could meet when the duke returns to the UK in July 2026 for events linked to the Invictus Games. But it remains unclear whether the Duchess of Sussex and their children will accompany him for the trip.

With inputs from agencies