Over tea and cake, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan took their first tentative steps towards their longed-for reconciliation with the royal family.
As the couple sat down with the King and Queen at Highgrove, His Majesty's private home in the Gloucestershire countryside, any tensions between father and son appeared to have been put to one side. Instead, Charles was joyfully reunited with Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, the beloved grandchildren he hasn't seen in person for four years.
How delighted the King must have been to finally be able to give his youngest grandchildren a cuddle and perhaps sit them on his knee to read them stories while voicing the characters, as he loves to do with his elder son Prince William's children.
One can only hope that the family reunion will be the first of many, paving the way for a thaw in the frosty relationship between Harry and Meghan and the royals.
Charles has always had a soft spot for his younger son, whom he used to affectionately call "my darling boy". Like many parents who love their offspring unconditionally, he seems willing to overlook Harry's betrayals in order to restore harmony to his family.
But for Harry, building bridges with his father is the easy part. Now, he has a much bigger obstacle to overcome if he is going to repair the wider family rift – with his brother William.
The truth behind William and Harry's relationship
At 77, the King is still undergoing cancer treatment following his diagnosis two years ago. There's no doubt this has played a part in both his and Harry's willingness to put past grievances behind them and their priorities into perspective.
Not so William, who at some point will succeed his father to become King William V. The parent-child relationship is very different to the one between brothers and, despite reports that he and Harry are in touch, sources tell HELLO! that this is not the case, and that the brothers remain very much estranged.
© Getty ImagesFor anyone who has read Harry's explosive 2023 memoir Spare, it's not difficult to understand why. Harry's recollections of a physical fight with his brother, which resulted in a broken necklace and dog bowl, left us agog.
But what angered William the most was the way Harry took aim at the woman he had once loved like a sister – William's wife Catherine. According to him, Catherine wasn't warm enough towards Meghan and made Meghan cry in a row about bridesmaids' outfits in the lead up to her wedding.
This came hot on the heels of Harry and Meghan's unfounded racism claims about unnamed members of the royal family – later revealed to include Catherine.
Signs of William's future reign
No wonder William was furious at his younger brother, especially in light of Catherine's own cancer diagnosis in 2024. But might there come a time when he is willing to follow his father's lead?
Those how know William say he has a fiery temper, but when it comes to his relationship with Harry, that hot-headedness has been replaced by an icy frost.
© UK Press via Getty Images, Antony Jones/Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty ImagesAs a future King, William won't just be contemplating the personal impact on his family but on the monarchy too. As William V, his job will be to uphold and protect the institution at all costs.
So, is William's stubborn and unforgiving streak a sign of a strong future King protecting everything he stands for, or is he missing an opportunity to heal the monarchy?
Could bringing his flawed, charismatic brother and his savvy wife back into the fold be just what the institution needs as Charles's slimmed down monarchy starts to look thinner than ever?
Only time will tell if William and Harry can repair what has been broken - and if our next King follows his father's example or carves his own path.
