Updated April 28, 2026, 9:10 a.m. ET
While King Charles III makes his voyage to the United States, don’t expect any family reunions.
The king, who is set to journey fromthe United Kingdom to the U.S. from Monday, April 27, to Thursday, April 30, for a state visit in Washington D.C., won’t be meeting with Prince Harry during the trip.
Harry, 41 – who has made recent trips to Australia with Duchess Meghan, and solo to Ukraine – now lives in California with his wife and their children, following their infamous step back from the monarchy.
And while this is the king’s first visit to his son’s new home country since the rift, the four-day work trip isn’t a personal one. Charles, 77, is in the U.S. to help build relations with President Donald Trump, after the president and first lady Melania Trump visited the king and Queen Camilla in Britain last September.
USA TODAY has reached out to Buckingham Palace and reps for Harry for comment.
Buckingham Palace previously noted that Charles “will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence,” and that he will subsequently travel to Bermuda.
Why King Charles won’t see Prince Harry on US trip
Aside from there being little time for personal matters during a work trip, a Harry and Charles reunion also wouldn’t be good PR, says John McDermott, cofounder of Caloroga Shark Media and producer for the royals-themed “Palace Intrigue” and “Crown and Controversy – King Charles” podcasts.
“One of the complications is if Charles did meet with Harry, it overshadows the whole trip, and the point of the trip is the state visit,” McDermott says.
The reunion would likely overshadow the point of the trip and cause “competing narratives” to arise.
“If one of the royals goes out, they’ve got all the spotlight on them,” the producer says, pointing out that aside from celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary, Prince William and Princess Kate’s public presence in the U.K. will also be muted to allow the spotlight to remain on the U.S. visit. “This week’s agenda is Charles and Camilla, and again, if you meet with Harry, that becomes the story.”
King Charles, Prince Harry’s relationship status
Harry and Meghan stepped back from their senior royal roles in 2020 due to media intrusion and racist coverage, eventually taking residence in Canada and, later, California, with their two children – Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4. Royal commentators and insiders have continued to report on the rift between Harry, his wife and his relatives – especially since the release of Harry’s memoir, “Spare” – suggesting Prince William is the holdout for reconciliation.
That became more evident in September, when Harry visited Charles amid the king’s cancer diagnosis. During that trip, Harry did not see William.
Harry has made comments about claims he’s “not a working royal,” telling ITV in an April 24 interview that he “will always be part of the royal family.” And in 2025, Harry told the BBC that he “would love a reconciliation” and wanted to end the rift, given he does “not know how much longer my father has.”
“Charles would like to reconcile with his son, of course, as a father and a son, and Harry would like to be closer with his father, and then somewhere in the middle is William’s opinion,” says McDermott, suggesting William’s resistance is rooted in “the philosophy that comes from Elizabeth’s reign of ‘the monarchy comes first.'”
He adds, “If Harry is out there doing things outside the normal royal family protocols, it complicates things, and William appears to just want to have a streamlined monarchy where everything is in line.”
But that doesn’t mean a resolution isn’t possible. The British royals will eventually need Harry and Meghan, McDermott suggests.
“Hopefully Charles lasts another 25 years, but at some point, when we’re in the era of King William, there aren’t going to be enough working royals to go around,” he says.
The monarchy, whose duties are mostly ceremonial and revolve around public appearances, speeches and official engagements, may need extra help to keep up its public-facing role.
“Right now you have someone like Princess Anne, who’s a workhorse; she will get older. At some point, she won’t be able to keep up her agenda. So who is doing all these things? Who is going to open the post office? You’re not going to send them King William and Queen Catherine to those things,” McDermott says. “You’re going to need Harry and Meghan to take on some of this load.”
The succession to the crown may force that resolution.
“We’ve all been in families, perhaps a funeral. It is a time when there’s a reconciliation,” he adds, but “hopefully it happens before that.”
