King Charles ‘too busy’ to meet Prince Harry during UK visit for High Court battle

King Charles will not meet Prince Harry this week despite the Duke of Sussex returning to the UK for a legal battle, with sources at Buckingham Palace saying he is too busy

King Charles will not be meeting Prince Harry during his return to the UK this week, according to sources at Buckingham Palace. The Duke of Sussex is set to arrive in London for another tense legal battle.

His lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, commences at the High Court on Monday (January 19). Harry, 41, is expected to attend most days and is scheduled to give a full day’s testimony on Thursday (January 22).

Currently, the King is in Scotland, enjoying a post-Christmas break with Queen Camilla at Birkhall, located on the Balmoral Estate on Royal Deeside. However, he is due to return to London for cancer treatment on Tuesday (January 20).

Despite this, insiders maintain that he will be too occupied to meet his youngest son. A Royal source told the Sunday Mirror: “The King’s diary means that he will be in Scotland engaging with the local community as he will be later in the week when he returns to London.”

Charles, 77, is set to host a reception to celebrate entrepreneurs at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Monday, marking the Scotland Investment Forum. Neither party is reported to have requested a meeting, and the King has reportedly informed aides that he wouldn’t return to London early under any circumstances, reports the Scottish Daily Express.

As previously reported, Harry will also not be reuniting with his brother William, as the Prince and Princess of Wales are also due to be in Scotland this week, carrying out engagements in Stirling and Falkirk. William, 43, and Kate, 44, reportedly have “no plans to see Harry” during his visit, say insiders.

This comes as no shock, considering William is yet to forgive his younger brother for airing family secrets in his memoir, Spare.

However, Charles and Harry did manage to share a cuppa in September 2025, marking their first face-to-face encounter in roughly 19 months.

The duke is also rumoured to have extended an invitation to the King to meet his grandchildren in California during a state visit to the USA later this year.

In addition to his jam-packed schedule, the reason behind his son’s visit might be another factor prompting the King to maintain a safe distance.

Harry is pursuing legal action alongside a group that includes Sir Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley.

They claim that Associated Newspapers Limited engaged in or commissioned illegal activities such as employing private investigators to bug cars and tap into private calls.

The media behemoth categorically denies all the allegations, dismissing them as “preposterous”. After providing his testimony, the prince is expected to jet back home to his wife Meghan Markle, 44, and their children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.

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