The Palace Power Struggle Behind King Charles and Prince Harry’s Highgrove Reunion

Prince Harry and King Charles met at Highgrove on Friday, marking their second meeting in under 12 months. This time, Meghan Sussex, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and Queen Camilla were all in attendance, a significant development given Harry’s past criticisms of Camilla in his memoir Spare. The reunion has reportedly triggered a briefing war within royal circles, with competing factions fighting over whether Charles should maintain contact with his son or keep him at arm’s length.

The Scottish Daily Express reports that some courtiers are alarmed that Charles is opening the door to Harry again. Prince William’s opposition to Harry returning to the royal fold is no secret, but the article also points to other figures behind the scenes who reportedly want to keep Harry far from his father. On one side stands Sir Clive Alderton, Charles’ private secretary—whom Harry famously dubbed “The Wasp” in Spare. On the other side stands Theo Rycroft, the King’s deputy private secretary, who reportedly wants to repair the damage.

What is being framed as a “secret royal war” is really a clash between the human instinct to reconcile and the palace instinct to control. And the fact that some courtiers fear Charles is “too soft” when it comes to his own son and grandchildren tells you everything about how broken the royal machine really is.

Prince William’s aversion to allowing Harry back into the royal fold is well known. But there are other key figures behind the scenes who are equally as distrustful of the Duke. Among them is the King’s own private secretary, Clive Alderton. According to royal expert Tom Sykes, Alderton represents a group of courtiers determined to keep Harry as far away from his father as possible.

They fear Charles is weak when it comes to his son. They are also said to believe Harry and Meghan will look to make commercial gain from his meetings with other royals, as they have done in the past.

In contrast, another member of the royal household, Theo Rycroft, is keen to see the damaging rift repaired. According to Sykes, the former diplomat, who became the King’s deputy private secretary in 2024, has his eye on 59-year-old Alderton’s job in the long term.

The briefing war was highlighted in a piece for the Sunday Times by royal editor Roya Nikkah who quoted one friend of the monarch as saying: “He will never shut the door on the possibility of spending time with his family because despite all the trouble, blood is blood.”

Scottish Daily Express

When Family Contact Becomes A Palace Threat

That is the most revealing part. Some people around the King apparently fear Charles is too soft when it comes to Harry. But what does “too soft” mean here? Seeing his son? Meeting his grandchildren? Allowing Archie and Lilibet to spend time with their grandfather? Palace courtiers are treating this as a strategic threat rather than a basic family moment, and that says everything about how broken their narrative machine really is.

And then there is Prince William. The article makes clear that William’s “aversion” to Harry being allowed back near the royal fold is no secret. That is a remarkable admission. It suggests William’s camp may have believed they could keep Harry permanently outside the gates, even if Charles wanted contact with his son and grandchildren. William reported need to control is problematic to say the least.

What makes this even funnier is that even anti-Sussex media outlets had to contend with the fact that Harry appeared composed and upbeat during his Invictus work after the court ruling. That must have complicated the preferred narrative. Much of the hostile press appeared eager to frame Harry as humiliated by his court loss, isolated from his family and overshadowed by William and Kate’s polo photo-op.

Instead, the story that landed was Charles seeing Diana’s grandchildren. All that briefing, plotting, palace manoeuvring, and the public still found the Sussex family more interesting. The Scottish Daily Express piece also notes that some feared Harry staying at Buckingham Palace would give him an “Evita moment.” Translation: they feared the optics of Harry appearing in a royal setting because they knew the public might not react the way the palace wanted. They know Harry still has an emotional pull. They know Meghan and the children change the story.

Final Thoughts

That is why the Highgrove meeting matters. It undercuts the idea that Harry is fully exiled and complicates William’s preferred narrative. It also suggests that Charles, heavily concerned with public perception after facing significant backlash for denying his own son accommodation, and he may have wanted some public reappearance of a relationship with his son and grandchildren. But ultimately, it exposes that Charles and his courtiers appear more invested in controlling the story than in healing the family.

So yes, there is a royal war. That said, as a woman of colour watching this unfold, I cannot ignore the racial dynamics sitting beneath the surface. The institution still treats Meghan as the person who must absorb the discomfort so everyone else can call the situation “healing.” They keep her largely out of sight while they try to manage the optics around reconciliation in a way that keeps certain people comfortable.

And that is what makes this so uncomfortable. A family reunion may be welcome, but if the palace insists on keeping Meghan shadowed, softened or hidden to make their narrative work, then they haven’t solved the problem. They have only managed it.