The one question I had following the fakakta Jubbly was: did Prince Charles spend any time at all with Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor? In the months before the Jubbly, Charles would occasionally throw himself pity parties in the media about how he had never met Lilibet and he hadn’t seen Archie since he was a baby. The fact that there were zero leaks about Charles meeting the kids was probably smart from the Sussex side, but I found the absence of information disconcerting too. It felt like that whole family was happy to let the world think that they snubbed two innocent children out of spite. Well, given that Charles is in the middle of a really awful newscycle, Clarence House openly briefed the media about Charles seeing his Sussex grandchildren.

Prince Charles had a “very emotional” meeting with his grandchildren Lilibet and Archie when the Sussexes returned to the UK, a royal source says. The heir and wife Camilla are said to have been “absolutely thrilled” to spend time with Harry, Meghan and their children during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

A senior royal source, at the briefing of Clarence House’s annual review, said it had been “wonderful” to have the Sussexes back in the UK at the start of June.

“It was fantastic to see them. It was wonderful to have them back in Britain,” the source said. “The prince and the duchess were absolutely thrilled to see them. The prince, of course, hasn’t seen his grandson Archie for a bit of time and so it was very, very, very special to have some time with him. He hadn’t met Lili, his granddaughter, and so to meet her was very emotional, a very, very wonderful thing.”

The royal source said of the Sussexes’ financial independence: “Great credit to them. They said they wanted to transition to financial independence and that has now been achieved.”

[From The Sun]

I wonder when it happened? Did Charles go over to Frogmore Cottage for an hour on Lilibet’s birthday? It’s possible. While Charles was seen later in the day on June 4th, at the Platinum Concert thing in London, he wasn’t seen in public that morning or early afternoon. I really do think there’s a good chance Harry and Meghan invited Charles and Camilla to Frogmore for Lili’s party. All of which means that there has been a thawing of relations between Harry and Charles, at least. I doubt that father and son have fully reconciled, but they’re making some moves. I still think that if Charles had made zero effort to see Archie and Lili, that would have been the end of the “thawing” too. Diana would be so f–king pissed at Charles.

As for Clarence House openly briefing the media about this… I hope Charles got Harry’s authorization or blessing. One of the stories I believed was that when Charles and Harry began talking again, Charles asked Harry not to say anything (good or bad) about him in the media. Harry kept his end of the bargain. Maybe Harry gave his father this one. And yes, this was Charles’s rainy-day story, for when he was in a bad newscycle. Once Clarence House says something about the Sussexes, no one will pay attention to Charles accepting suitcases full of cash.

Photos courtesy of Instar and Misan Harriman/The Sussexes.