Tom Bower exclusive: Harry and Meghan admit your mistakes and apologise now

King Charles celebrated his 75th birthday last week, enjoying an intimate dinner with close friends and family at Clarence House. As he blew out his birthday candles, he no doubt reflected on a touching surprise that could already have made his dearest birthday wish come true.

In a shock U-turn earlier that day, the estranged Duke and Duchess of Sussex had reportedly made what could be seen as a first attempt at reconciliation by phoning the King to wish him a happy birthday – marking their first conversation in six months.

Prince Harry, 39, and his wife Meghan, 42, who now live in Montecito, California, previously said they had “no contact” from Buckingham Palace regarding an invitation to the evening birthday event, but put any bad feeling aside to wish King Charles well on his special day.

The olive-branch call was said to be “friendly and cordial”, and it’s believed the monarch also received a recorded video message from Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, leaving him “very emotional”.

In typical fashion, the King had insisted his birthday would be a “normal working day”, and he chose to spend it by helping to launch a new food charity initiative. Queen Camilla joined him on a visit to a food distribution hub in Oxfordshire to launch his Coronation Food Project, which aims to end food waste.

Having taken time out for the transatlantic call, “the video message proved a real turning point for Charles”, a source tells OK!. “He was really quite taken by it. Relations between the King and his son are still very strained, but he would never let that get in the way of having a relationship with his grandchildren, who he hasn’t seen for a very long time.”

As we all know, there’s nothing like a birthday to make us contemplate how time marches on, and the source adds that it’s only natural for Charles to reflect on how he wants family life to take shape for the remainder of the time he has left."

They continued: “It really hit home how he should try to work through this for the children’s sake. Charles knows he doesn’t have many more birthdays or Christmases left and wants to try to repair the rift so that his grandchildren will be a part of the family like everyone else,” the source says.

Adding that the King understands it’s going to be a “very difficult task”, the source claims that Harry’s strained relationship is also with the rest of the royal family, and Prince William and Queen Camilla could prove to be real obstacles to the happy family set-up Charles longs for.

“There is virtually no chance of mending the damage between his two sons,” the source continues. “The Queen is also still very deeply hurt by the comments made about her and that’s another obstacle for Charles to overcome.”

Of course, Harry’s rift with his family reached breaking point earlier this year following the release of his memoir, Spare. In the book, he wrote that he feared Queen Camilla would be a “wicked stepmother”, calling her “the other woman” and also branded William his “arch-nemesis”, claiming the Princess of Wales had made Meghan cry over bridesmaid dresses for their wedding.

And with relations between the Wales and Sussex camps at an all-time low, Harry’s older brother is not in a rush to forgive and forget, according to the source.

“William is very sceptical about the whole thing. He knows that his brother can never be trusted, judging by what has happened in the past,” the source claims.

“It’s important for the King to convey a sense of unity within his family as a sign of what the people should emulate. Not power struggles and division. There’s an element of repairing the damage so that there are no more milestones overshadowed by petty squabbles.”

Royal expert Tom Bower agrees that the King wants nothing more than to make amends with Harry, but as far as the Prince and Princess of Wales are concerned, he claims there is no way back.

“William is absolutely determined not to repair relations. His wife Kate has been hugely insulted by Harry and Meghan, and he sees Harry as a curse on the monarchy and on their lives. He has absolutely no intention of readmitting him into his life,” he claims.

“For Charles, the whole thing has been painful and traumatic,” Tom continues. “The problem is that Harry and Meghan have caused so much damage, it’s hard to imagine how to repair it. But I’m sure that the King would like a solution.

“I think Charles is an emotional man. He’s only got two sons and he was pretty close to Harry. I think winning Charles over is very easy for Harry because Charles wants to be won over. He wants forgiveness and he wants to have a relationship with his son. But it’s far too complicated.

“William and Kate are taking the burden of the monarchy and I’m sure William will be absolutely clear to his father that there won’t be any readmission of Harry because he and Kate don’t want it. Charles has not only got William and Kate, but he’s also got Camilla, who was very insulted by Harry and Meghan too, so that makes it a great problem for him.”

It’s thought that Harry and Charles last spoke to each other in April, shortly before his Coronation the following month. Though Harry hasn’t seen his father since the historic day, he has visited the UK several times including in September, when he attended an awards ceremony organised by children’s charity WellChild.

“In the end, Charles probably wishes Harry could be in England as well, but I think he is alone on that. He may be King, but he can’t just bring Harry back with the wave of his wand,” says Tom.

Describing Harry’s decision to speak to his father last week as “dramatic”, Tom adds, “I think what’s happened is that he and Meghan have gone through the rush and excitement of the book and the Netflix series and the rest, and they regret having no backstop with their relations in Britain. I think they’re now realising the folly of their ways and what damage they’ve caused. Harry had made his bed and it’s pretty uncomfortable for him now.”

It comes as Meghan and Harry’s biographer Omid Scobie is set to release his new book, Endgame . In an extract published last week, the author claimed that Harry was “kept in the dark” about the Queen’s health in the hours before she died.

He also alleges that William did not respond when Harry attempted to contact him regarding travel arrangements as the family rushed to Balmoral to be at their grandmother’s bedside.

Our source claims that the royals are bracing for any more bombshells that may be dropped. “The family are anticipating another round of negativity when Omid’s book comes out and are prepared for it,” they say.

“What comes out will determine Harry’s final position in the family. William will be the head of it one day and I don’t think he will ever accept his brother back into the fold.”

“William was disappointed about the phone call revelation, that should never be discussed outside of the family. In my opinion it just goes to show that the trust has been broken and it can never be repaired.”

The source adds, “Even before this book was written, relations between the pair were irreparable. I think this will only drive an even deeper wedge between them and could even derail a reconciliation with the King.”

And, despite reports that Harry and his father are set to have another phone call this week, Tom says there’s still a long way for the pair to go.

“I think for anything to be serious, it would require Harry to make a public statement of apology – to the King, to his brother, to all the British and Commonwealth citizens, acknowledging he made a mistake. Until he does that, these calls amount to nothing,” he says.

Meanwhile, Meghan stepped out in Los Angeles last week for a solo night out at Variety magazine’s Power Of Women event. Wearing a camel one-shoulder Proenza Schouler dress paired with black heels, the duchess joked that she was having a “mum’s night out”.

Meghan rubbed shoulders with famous faces including Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Margot Robbie and Carey Mulligan at the bash, which celebrates the accomplishments of women in the entertainment industry.

She also revealed that she was in the process of making some big plans with Archewell Productions, her company which has so far created her Netflix docu-series Harry & Meghan and herArchetypes podcast for Spotify.

When asked what was now “driving the things you put out in the business”, she said, “Things that make people feel – I was going to say ‘good’, but it’s more than that. Things that make people feel something, right?

“And feel a sense of community. But we have so many exciting things on the slate. I can’t wait until we can announce them, but I’m just really proud of what we’re creating. My husband is loving it, too. It’s really fun.”

We hope, for Charles’ sake, that the Sussexes are planning on strengthening their relationship with the King and Queen, and a happier royal family is also in the making.

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