King Charles meets Prince Harry for first time in more than 18 months

London: King Charles has held a meeting with Prince Harry after suddenly returning to London to see his son, moving to ease tensions within the royal family in their first face-to-face talks in more than 18 months.

Harry made a surprise visit to Clarence House to see his father during a break in a brief trip from California that has been dominated by events with major charities.

While the King was at Balmoral Castle in Scotland hours earlier, he flew to London at short notice and sparked instant speculation that he would see his son despite official comments in recent days that played down the prospect of a meeting.

Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has been in the UK since Monday seeing charities he helped when he held royal duties several years ago, before he gave up his official roles to move to California with his family.

The prince hinted at the pressure on his agenda during a visit to Imperial College London to see medical experts who help victims of blast injuries at a centre he promoted a decade ago.

When members of the assembled crowd sought to speak with him as he left, he said: “I have to go, I’m so late.”

Soon afterwards he was photographed in a black Range Rover passing through the gates of Clarence House, the residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla near Buckingham Palace.

The meeting lasted about 50 minutes and was described by palace officials as a private tea. There was no public comment about the conversation.

Harry is due to return to his home in Montecito, near Santa Barbara in California, on Thursday after a four-day visit to the UK without his wife, Meghan, or their children, Archie and Lilibet.

The rift between Harry and the other members of the family – including his brother, Prince William, as well as the King – has been a source of tension for several years after the younger son aired his grievances about royal life in television shows and a memoir, Spare.

There was no sign of a meeting between Harry and William, who was in Cardiff visiting a mental health charity while his brother and father met.

A few hours after the meeting at Clarence House, the King received another visitor: South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, who is in the UK for a defence conference.

Harry told the BBC in May that his request for greater government-funded security for himself and his family had been a “sticking point” with the family. He lost his security when he moved to the US and took court action to seek to restore it but lost the case.

He said the King “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff” but added that he wanted to overcome this because his father was undergoing cancer treatment.

“I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” he told the BBC in the interview from the US.

“There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious.”

Harry gave £1.1 million ($2.25 million) on Tuesday to the Children in Need charity, which is backed by the BBC and helps vulnerable children and teenagers. He followed this on Wednesday with donations to medical operations that help children with blast injuries.

He donated £370,000 to projects that seek to help injured children from Gaza and Ukraine, including through the World Health Organisation and Save The Children. The funds came from the Archewell Foundation he set up with Meghan.

“No single organisation can solve this alone,” the prince said in a statement.

“Gaza now has the highest density of child amputees in the world and in history... It takes partnerships across government, science, medicine, humanitarian response and advocacy to ensure children survive and can recover after blast injuries.”

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