Prince Harry returned to Britain on Monday for a four-day visit crowded with meetings and ceremonies but dominated by a single, all-consuming question: Will he meet with his father, King Charles III?

It’s not an idle question. Harry’s rift with the 76-year-old monarch has taken on canyon-like proportions after lawsuits and an emotional BBC interview by the estranged prince in May. It has become the central fault line in Britain’s royal family, dividing not just Harry and his father but also the prince and his older brother, William.

On the face of it, the portents for a reconciliation do not look encouraging. Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, are currently staying in Balmoral, the Scottish castle where Queen Elizabeth II died three years ago on Monday. Buckingham Palace has been tight-lipped about any meeting.

But a get-together in July between communications aides to Charles and Harry, captured by tabloid photographers, stoked speculation that perhaps father and son were open to a rapprochement — or at least open to exploring the idea.

The last time the two met was for 30 minutes in February 2024 when Harry flew to London after Charles was diagnosed with cancer. Seventeen months later, the king continues to be treated for his illness. Harry raised fears about Charles’s prognosis when he told the BBC, “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”