King leaves London with no Harry reunion on day of duke’s emotional evidence
The King has left London without meeting his son the Duke of Sussex on the day Harry appeared emotional during his trial against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Charles attended a reception in support of Indonesian conservation efforts at Lancaster House, next door to his Clarence House residence, on Wednesday morning.
Charles, who was seen sheltering under his own large black umbrella as he departed, joked about the rainy downpours in the capital as he shook hands with the president.
He prompted laughter as he remarked to the Indonesian leader: “Sorry about the weather.”
The King, who was away in Scotland at the start of the week when Harry arrived back in the UK, conducted his engagements just two miles from where his son began giving evidence in person in his legal battle against the publisher of the Mail.
After around two hours in the witness box, Harry, on the verge of tears with his voice cracking, said during the trial against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL): “They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery.”
But the King and the duke were not believed to have seen each other this time, with Charles following the general principle that a sovereign should steer clear of any active legal proceedings.
The Queen, Harry’s stepmother, was meanwhile away carrying out engagements in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where she joined former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner to mark the 30th anniversary of the cancer support charity Maggie’s.
This includes claims that information for articles was obtained by carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as phone tapping and “blagging” private records.
ANL has strongly denied wrongdoing and is defending the claims.
Charles and Harry, 41, are now said to be in regular contact despite their past difficulties.
In May, the duke gave an interview to the BBC in which he claimed the King would not speak to him because of his legal fight with the Home Office over security and he did not know “how much longer my father has” as he described his hopes for a “reconciliation”.
The sit-down chat came after the duke lost a Court of Appeal challenge over his security arrangements while in the UK.
Before the King arrived, a roundtable discussion was staged at Lancaster House to mobilise support for the conservation of Indonesia’s biodiversity and landscapes, including through the Peusangan Elephant Conservation Initiative which focuses on protecting critically endangered Sumatran elephants and the forests on which they depend.
The talks were co-hosted by the UK’s minister for Indo-Pacific Seema Malhotra and Indonesian special presidential envoy on energy and environment Hashim Djojohadikusumo.