Prince Harry reveals he asked King Charles and William for 'secret meeting' when he returned to UK

Prince Harry revealed that he requested a "secret meeting" with his father , King Charles, and brother, Prince William, to discuss "the state of things" during his visit to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021.

In his memoir, 'Spare', the Duke of Sussex shared that he saw his grandfather's funeral as an opportunity to reconnect with his father and brother. This marked Harry's first trip back to England since he and Meghan Markle resigned as senior royals and relocated to the US with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

This was also Harry's first encounter with his family following his explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, where he and the Duchess of Sussex detailed their struggles within the Royal Family and explained their decision to step away and move abroad. In his book, published in January 2023, Harry confessed feeling anxious while waiting for William and Charles to arrive at their meeting, even fearing they might have changed their minds about seeing him.

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However, he recounted a moment when he noticed his father and brother approaching with a "grim, almost menacing" expression. The Duke remembered offering them "a weak smile", but receiving no smile in return, which left him feeling "a hugely intense vulnerability" and made him think of his late mother, Princess Diana, hoping she could lend him strength during the encounter.

Harry shared that upon greeting his brother "Willy" and his father, whom he affectionately calls "Pa", they responded with just one "painfully tepid" word: "Harold.", reports the Irish Mirror .

Harry described the scene: "At last, I saw them. Shoulder to shoulder, striding towards me, they looked grim, almost menacing. More, they looked tightly aligned. My stomach dropped. Normally they'd be squabbling about something or other, but now they seemed united - as if they were conspiring. It crossed my mind: Are we here for a stroll...or a showdown? ".

"I got up from the wooden bench, took a hesitant step forward, and offered a weak smile. They didn't smile back. That's when my heart really began to pound. Take deep breaths, I told myself. Besides fear, I was filled with this acute awareness, and an overwhelming sense of vulnerability, similar to what I'd felt at pivotal moments before. Like walking behind my mother's casket, entering combat for the first time, or delivering a speech while fighting a panic attack."

"There was that same sense of embarking on a quest, and not knowing if I was up to it, while also fully knowing that there was no turning back. That Fate was in the saddle. OK, Mummy, I thought, picking up the pace, here goes. Wish me luck. We met in the middle of the path. Willy? Pa? Hello. Harold. Painfully tepid."

In his memoir, Harry also shared that he was given the nickname "Spare" by his father, Charles. After Princess Diana gave birth to him, his dad exclaimed: "Wonderful! Now you've given me an heir and a spare - my work is done."

The Guardian newspaper highlighted that Prince Harry has always been bothered by this nickname, a sentiment he expressed in his book. The newspaper reported: "Harry's resentment of being the 'spare' is the underlying theme of his book, through chapters on his childhood, his schooling, his career as a royal and in the British Army, his relationship with his parents and brother, and his life with Meghan through courtship, wedding and marriage, to their own experience of parenthood. " The Mirror has reached out to Kensington Palace for a response.