Perhaps because it involves kings and princes, we can be forgiven for hoping that they were going to live happily ever after in the end, like in a fairytale. Unfortunately, this is real life.

Bearing in mind that the royal family are strangers, that despite all the whispers and briefings and rumours, we really don’t have any idea of what is going on behind closed palace doors, it’s almost comical how invested we are. And yet, this week, when news emerged that Charles had offered Harry the opportunity to stay at Buckingham Palace during his first trip to London with his wife and children in four years, it felt like a wonderful breakthrough. Finally, a glimmer of possibility that this sorry state of affairs between them could maybe be … if not entirely mended, at least taped over for a while, so they could spend some time together.

Even if it was a wobbly start, it would have been a start, and that seemed extremely unlikely in recent years. It might mean they could begin the healing........

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