During his first public address to the UK and Commonwealth as King Charles III, the new monarch showed support to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following years of tension between the couple and the Crown.
Charles, 73, sent his love to his youngest son, 37, and his daughter-in-law, 40, “as they continue to build their lives overseas” in the US during a pre-recorded video message that aired Friday.
The extended olive branch comes one day after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which brought together key members of the royal family, including Charles, Harry, Prince William and new Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles.
In an August interview with New York magazine’s The Cut, Markle suggested that Harry and his father are close to estranged.
“Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process,’” the Duchess of Sussex said, referring to Megxit, the couple’s decision to move to her native California and give up their royal titles and duties.
Indeed, during the couple’s bombshell March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry said that Charles had “stopped taking [his] calls” regarding conversations about leaving his role as a working member of the royal family.
Following the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, however, the new king seems to have had a change of heart.
“We owe her the most heartfelt debt any family could owe to their mother for her love, affection, guidance, understanding and example,” Charles said of his late mother Friday. “Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well-lived, a promise that destiny kept, and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to all today.”
He added, “Her dedication and devotion never wavered through times of change, through progress, through times of joy and celebration and through times of sadness and loss.”
