Prince Harry has "forcefully denied" leaking details of a confidential meeting between his aides and representatives of King Charles III, amid mounting speculation over who exposed the royal peace talks to the press and fresh scrutiny over the ongoing rift between the Duke of Sussex and the rest of the Royal Family.
Photos of the July meeting at the Royal Over-Seas League, a private club near Clarence House, were widely circulated across British media last week, sparking new friction just as efforts to mend the fractured relationship between Harry and his father appeared to gain traction. A source close to the Sussexes told The Telegraph that Harry and Meghan were "frustrated" by the leak, which they claim did not come from their camp.
The meeting, described as informal and without a set agenda, brought together Harry's communications chief Meredith Maines and UK-based PR head Liam Maguire, along with the King's press secretary Tobyn Andreae, a former senior editor at the Daily Mail. Aides from Prince William's office were notably absent.
While the meeting was initially hailed by royal sources as a "significant moment" and "first step toward reconciliation," others now view the fallout from its exposure as a setback. "This whole summit means very little without Prince William at the table," a source told royal commentator Rob Shuter. "The real wound is between Harry and William."
The leak's origin remains contested. Royal biographer Phil Dampier suggested Harry may have orchestrated the exposure "to portray himself as the one who is trying to patch things up." But insiders close to Harry rejected that claim, pointing instead to tensions surrounding Andreae's prior ties to the British tabloid press.
In his memoir Spare, Harry accused Queen Camilla of leaking stories about him to rehabilitate her image. "That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press," he told CBS. "There was an open willingness on both sides to trade information... there was going to be people or bodies left in the street."
While Harry has signaled openness to reconciliation, including in a BBC interview where he said, "It would be nice to reconcile," the palace has repeatedly pointed to legal rulings against him regarding his UK security arrangements. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said, "All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion."
The King reportedly supported the July summit. "The King has consistently shown he loves both his sons and... is prepared to meet Harry when their diaries allow," a source told The Mirror. But Harry's strained relationship with William remains an unresolved obstacle. An insider told the Daily Mail that any progress with Charles was "a different matter entirely" from the deeper breach with his brother.
Complicating matters further, royal sources told RadarOnline that discussions have quietly taken place about the possibility of stripping the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their titles should they "step out of line again." While Charles is said to be hesitant, concerned about public backlash, "people are saying that the royals have quietly sanctioned the title removal," a source said. "The removal would require an Act of Parliament, but those in the know say the palace has already called several secret meetings to discuss the possibility and put an actionable plan in place."
