King Charles' blunt reply to Prince Harry's olive branch shatters reunion hopes

It was reported that Prince Harry reached out to King Charles prior to one of his previous visits to the UK with an offer to meet up with his father - but it is believed the monarch had a simple response

Whenever Prince Harry returns to visit the UK, speculation ramps up on whether he will meet up with his father King Charles.

Harry has been on several trips back to his homeland this year, including just several weeks ago, to attend a charity awards. The last visit he made to the UK, which is believed to have resulted with a face-to-face chat with Charles, was shortly after the monarch had been diagnosed with cancer. Due to the last-minute nature of the visit, Charles was only able to see his younger son in London for less than an hour before he headed back to Sandringham to rest.

The next trip Harry made to the UK was several months in later in May, when he was at a special service at St Paul's Cathedral to mark 10 years of his Invictus Games. Sources claimed that before this trip, Harry asked for a meeting with the King, who had a simple four-word response to the request, he would definitely do so 'if he is able'.

"Harry has kept in regular contact with his father on several occasions and made no secret of his desire to see him when he can," a source has said. "He has been especially concerned about him and hopes the King will be well and able to see him as planned."

However, as it turned out, there was not meeting on this occasion. This raised eyebrows at the time, with a statement from Harry suggesting his father was too busy to see him and reports later claiming the King had offered his son a place to stay in a royal residence.

However, sources close to the Sussexes at the time claimed that Harry's calls to his dad were going unanswered as he tried to discuss his security arrangements with his father. The Duke has been embroiled in a long-running battle over his security when he comes to the UK after he automatically lost the right to his police protection when he stepped down as a working royal.

He has lost his subsequent court battles to have it reinstated for him, wife Meghan and their two children and is planning an appeal. According to PEOPLE magazine, Harry believes his dad could help to have this reinstated, although this has been dismissed as "wholly inaccurate" by a palace source.

And now a friend of Harry's told the magazine: "He gets 'unavailable right now'. His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King's health, but those calls go unanswered too." While another friend added: "Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father," while another source added: "Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs."

Harry took legal action over the February 2020 decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) which ruled he would no longer be given the "same degree" of publicly-funded protection when in the country. Ravec's decision came as a result of a change in the duke's 'status' after he stopped being a "full-time working member of the royal family ", a judge was told.

In February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke's case that he was "singled out" and treated "less favourably" by the decision and concluded Ravec's approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. After the ruling, a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement that the Duke "hopes to obtain justice from the Court of Appeal".