Prince Harry’s chances of reconciling with the Royal Family have been dealt a fresh blow, following a soundbite captured of King Charles’ response to the Invictus Games. The annual sporting event, which was founded by Prince Harry in 2014, held this year’s edition in Canada earlier this month. The Duke of Sussex was in attendance alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, with the pair seen making loved-up appearances before her departure back home to Los Angeles. While the Invictus Games went off without a hitch, King Charles appears less enthused by the event, at least according to some commentators. Prince Harry with PM Justin Trudeau is giving!Just a pair of laid back guys at the Invictus Games watching the games, talking & laughing like old friends do. IG25 is showing a matured, relaxed, self assured Duke of Sussex and I’m thankful for it. #InvictusGames2025 #PrinceHarry pic.twitter.com/7IVa0gWQwX— Carmella (@Sussex5525) February 17, 2025 A short time after the games, the monarch met with former Army captain and para-sports athlete, David Henson, at Imperial College London’s Centre for Injury Studies. When Henson told King Charles of previously competing in the Invictus Games, his response was… shall we say, tepid. “Fantastic,” King Charles replied, before the conversation quickly veered towards another topic. The monarch’s seeming unwillingness to be drawn into a chat about his son and the games predictably got people talking. Two such people were royal editors Roya Nikkhah and Kate Mansey, who discussed the moment on an episode of their podcast, Speaking on The Royals with Roya and Kate. According to them, the meeting with Henson could have been “an opportunity for the King to say ‘Oh yes, [the games are] marvellous,’ or whatever that might be.” Instead, Charles “just let that comment go and the conversation continued and the King didn’t pick up on that at all,” the podcasters said. King Charles accidentally spoke to an Invictus veteran in London yesterday https://t.co/MC6d5l879F pic.twitter.com/1ws4QQs30c— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) February 20, 2025 The moment was particularly awkward given that Henson is considered a “kind of pin-up for rehabilitation and getting up and getting on with his life,” making Charles’ bypass of the games feel “quite telling,” according to Nikkhah and Mansey. “The King just sort of didn’t acknowledge the [Invictus] games at all,” they added. You needn’t look far to find the source of the rift between Prince Harry and the Royal Family. From stepping down from royal duties in 2020, to that bombshell interview with Oprah and the revelations littered throughout Spare, the rift is actually less of a rift, and more of a gulf. However, there have been reports of a potential reconciliation. This year, it was speculated that Prince Harry’s sister-in-law, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, was open to patching things up with the Duke, even despite all those rumors of Markle’s friendly relationship with her husband, Prince William. More recently, we learned that Markle is apparently eager to restore her relationship with Middleton, and reconnect what was once known as the Fab Four in herself, Middleton, Harry and William. Ah, the simpler times. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (@meghan) Any chance of reconciliation might be delayed by the sheer hecticness of Markle’s schedule of late. This year alone, the former actress has rebranded her lifestyle website As Ever — though not without attracting controversy — as well as preparing for the release of her upcoming Netflix series With Love, Meghan. Add in all the hullabaloo caused by her response to the Los Angeles wildfires and you’ve got a plate full enough to distract from familial reconciliations. Even if they were to ever reunite, Charles would probably just deem it “fantastic” and walk away.