Why Queen Camilla’s Absence From King Charles and Prince Harry’s Meeting Is a Good Sign

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• Prince Harry and King Charles had their first meeting in 19 months on Sept. 10, signaling a move towards reconciliation.
• Queen Camilla was reportedly not present at the meeting, which some royal experts have interpreted as a good sign.
• Reports suggest that Prince William is not ready to make peace.

Prince Harry is slowly working his way back into the royal family’s good graces...though depending on who you ask, his recent meeting with King Charles has had mixed results. According to some reports, Queen Camilla’s absence from the meeting is a good sign for Harry and Charles’ relationship, but others claim the opposite.

King Charles and Prince Harry met on Sept. 10 for the first time in 19 months and without the Queen, which some have taken as evidence that Camilla would never forgive Harry for what he wrote about her in his memoir Spare. A new report from People, however, claims that her decision not to attend was actually a good sign.

“The fact that Camilla wasn’t there—when she was before—would show that Harry has signaled something to him that he could be trusted one-on-one,” royal author Sally Bedell Smith told People, referencing Charles and Harry’s last reported meeting.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Buckingham Palace

Charles may have trusted Harry enough to meet one-on-one, but reports suggest that he also wanted to test his youngest son to see if he would tell the press about their meeting. “If we hear nothing, there will be another meeting,” said Robert Hardman, author of The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy. “If we hear something, it will be a very long time before there is one.”

It’s unclear whether or not Harry’s brief, vague comments to The Guardian will stop this reconciliation before it can even begin. It’s been reported that the royal family is “livid” about the interview, but it’s also true that Harry declined to speak about his relationship with his father, saying only “the focus really has to be on my dad” in the coming year. It certainly sounds like he has every intention of staying in touch.

As far as the rest of the royal family is concerned, reports suggest it’s going to take more than a few private meetings for Prince William to welcome Harry back into the fold. A recent report suggested that William was still so angry at his brother, he would throw someone out of the room if they even so much as mentioned him.