A tale of two houses: The royals put on a show while Harry visits hospital... but still no meeting between father and son

By REBECCA ENGLISH, ROYAL EDITOR Published: 08:22, 10 July 2026 | Updated: 08:43, 10 July 2026 It was a tale of two houses, Windsor and Montecito. Both were out on public manoeuvres yesterday but only one looked truly in their element. For after days of family drama being played out in public, the King and Queen, as well as the Prince of Wales, were taking in the sun and the sights of the capital and the South Coast, focusing very much on long-planned public engagements. For Their Majesties, it was a trip to London Zoo to mark its 200th birthday, where they gamely carried out a health check on a penguin, fed a giant Galapagos tortoise and even painted the shell of a tiny snail. The King donned snazzy sunglasses and refused, stoically, to take off his thick suit jacket despite the intense heat, while Queen Camilla sported a pretty parasol and an animal-print dress. They gamely got involved in all manner of animal capers, the King prompting roars from the crowd as he chatted and gesticulated to them, while Camilla beamed as she named a queen bee after herself. William, meanwhile, was in Hastings, East Sussex, where he rode a Victorian funicular, played a game of crazy golf and made the day of dozens of schoolchildren he bumped into on the beach. Tanned, relaxed and chatty, he didn't appear to have a care in the world. It was a marked contrast to the footage of his estranged brother, who attempted to recreate the magic of old at the Birmingham Children's Hospital on behalf of one of his longest associations, WellChild. King Charles and Queen Camilla visited London Zoo to mark its 200th birthday yesterday Queen Camilla sported a pretty parasol and an animal-print dress for the visit yesterday The King refused to take off his thick suit jacket despite the intense heat yesterday The King and Queen checked over the health of a Humboldt penguin at Penguin Beach The monarch was also seen feeding a giant 32-year-old Galapagos tortoise named Polly King Charles III marked snails with purple 'Snail Varnish' before they will be released Although he was clearly passionate and undertaking all the elements of a traditional royal visit that you would expect - speaking to children, cutting a cake and posing for photographs with a group of nurses - the carefully curated video footage released shows Harry, 41, minus his familiar fizz and looking slightly lost behind the eyes.  It hasn't been a good week for the prince, after a spectacular spat with his father over royal accommodation for his trip - which saw Buckingham Palace publicly slap him down on Monday - and his drastic High Court loss against the Daily Mail over claims of unlawful information gathering, which were unceremoniously rejected by a senior judge on Tuesday. His media team, who had only ever planned for a small and carefully curated group of journalists to cover his week of engagements in the UK on what is known as a 'pool' basis, then pulled all media access from events at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea the following day. The prince quietly slipped into the building, avoiding reporters and photographers gathered outside. Buckingham Palace had hoped this week would see a 'peaceful' trip by the Sussexes, which could see him quietly meet his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for the first time in four years. Prince William was in Hastings, where he visited youth-led and community-driven organisations The Prince of Wales delighted crowds during his visit to a miniature golf park in Hastings Prince William met young people and volunteers in the Common Room at Eagle House, which functions as a 'public living room' and youth club The royal also enjoyed playing a round of crazy golf during a visit to Hastings Adventure Miniature Golf The leaks, spin, psychodrama and histrionics from Team Sussex in recent weeks, however, have made a low-key visit utterly impossible now. That's not to say it won't happen. It has now been reported that the Duchess of Sussex and her two children Archie and Lilibet could come to the UK this weekend. I am told that despite everything the King, whose patience has very much been pushed to the limits of late, is amenable to meeting. That does not mean he is in a mood to forgive or forget the outrageous injustices meted out by his younger son over the last few years. But he is a pragmatic man of 77 who remains living with cancer (albeit doing very well, according to his doctors). And there are many, including himself, that believe the children should not be made to suffer even if the mess is one of their parents' own making. Prince Harry met with youngsters being cared for at Birmingham Children's Hospital yesterday The Duke of Sussex met patient Alec Hill, 12, who has a rare chromosomal condition and  immune system disease, alongside his mother Kelly and father Stuart during a visit to  Birmingham Children's Hospital  Patient Wyatt Makwana, 12, who was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, met Prince Harry alongside his father Brian  Prince Harry visited Birmingham Children's Hospital to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the very first WellChild Nurse If, as expected, the Sussexes make their home at Althorp, the ancestral home of Harry's maternal family, the Spencers, for the next couple of days, it may be that a meeting doesn't take place until this weekend - or possibly even Monday, before His Majesty embarks on another busy week of engagements. Highgrove, Sandringham or Windsor could be a venue, as Harry has made clear he won't bring his family to London because he is convinced it is 'unsafe'. Conversations over the issue, I am told, remain live and ongoing behind the scenes. While the King is still willing - just - to cooperate, it is up to Harry now to snatch at least one minor victory from the jaws of defeat. How he handles any such meeting may determine the entire future of family relations between the two rival houses.