After years of discord, King Charles and Prince Harry appear to be well poised for a full reconciliation.
While it's awful for both of them that it took the King's cancer diagnosis to precipitate this renewed closeness, the foundation had already been laid after they shared a "warm" phone call on Charles' birthday last November.
After Harry flew straight over to the U.K. from California when he learned that his dad had cancer, royal expert Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight that the King "desperately wants to reconcile with Harry," as well as build a real bond with his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
"The King would have been hugely relieved and comforted by the fact that Harry flew over," Nicholl continued.
"However brief that meeting may have been, I think it's absolutely fundamental and important and healing the rift between father and son."
She added, "I certainly think we're seeing a real thawing in the relations between Charles and his son. I know, for Charles, the door has always been left open regardless of some of the things Harry has written... I was told by a source very close to the king that whatever Harry has said or done, he loves his son."
Nicholl also implied that learning of his dad's illness is likely to have made Harry put their differences in perspective.
"I think when someone has a serious health scare like this, it does make you reassess things, and I think that's why Harry got on the first flight he could," the expert said.
Meanwhile, Nicholl—like every other royal source out there—doubts that Harry will reconcile with his older brother Prince William during his time in the U.K. or any time soon after that. Exhibit A: The Duke of Sussex stayed in a London hotel on Tuesday night for lack of a "formal invitation" to stay on royal property. Yeesh.
