A former royal butler has shared Prince Harry’s potential plans to visit Balmoral for a reunion with his estranged father when he returns to UK shores next week
A former royal butler has shared Prince Harry’s potential plans to reunite with his dad when he returns to UK shores next week.
Grant Harrold, who worked for the Royal Family at Highgrove between 2004 and 2011, spoke candidly at his book launch of the rumoured reunion between Prince Harry and his estranged father King Charles when the Duke of Sussex returns to England next week for the WellChild Awards.
The charity event falls on September 8, which is also the third anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth, leaving many wondering if Harry will make the journey to Scotland – where King Charles will be – while on his trip to the UK.
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According to the former royal butler, Prince Harry may travel to Balmoral if time allows, to honour his late grandmother and to relive some of the happy memories he has of the royal residence.
“I think Harry would probably love to spend time at Balmoral. This is just my view,” he told GB News at his book launch on Monday. “I think he would love to go up there and be on the farm in his element. I just don’t know with everything that’s gone on, because it could be awkward.”
Prince Harry has long spoken of his fondness of Balmoral, revealing some of his most wholesome childhood memories of the Scottish Highlands estate in his 2023 memoir Spare.
“To me, Balmoral was always simply Paradise,” he wrote in his autobiography. “A cross between Disney World and some sacred Druid grove. I was always too busy fishing, shooting, running up and down ‘the hill’ to notice anything off about the Feng Shui of the old castle,” he continued, referring to legends about the residence.
“What I’m trying to say is, I was happy there,” he wrote. “In fact, it’s possible that I was never happier.”
Despite Harry’s love for Balmoral, as the WellChild Awards fall on the same day as the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, Jennie Bond told the Mirror that the scheduling conflict may impact Harry’s availability to travel to Scotland.
The former BBC royal correspondent said: “We have all become quite used to Harry coming and going without seeing his family. His visits are generally extremely brief and the King is usually up in Scotland for the anniversary of his mother‘s death. So arranging a meeting may not be straightforward.”
While Harry’s plans to travel to Balmoral are still up in the air, Grant Harrold said that no matter where they meet, he is certain Charles is looking to reunite with his son for the first time in over a year.
He told GB News: “I know what the King’s like, he likes everyone to be happy. He likes everyone to get on. So you can guarantee the King without question wants it resolved. Even if it doesn’t mean Harry comes back into the Royal Family how he used to be, I think the King will want some sort of peaceful resolution.”
Last week, the Mirror exclusively reported that Harry is poised to see his father for the first time in 20 months when he returns to Britain – although Prince William has rejected any reconciliation with his brother.
The thawing of relations between the Duke of Sussex and the monarch comes after an informal peace summit with Buckingham Palace officials.
