Harry lands in Britain, sits at a table with his father for the first time in nearly a year, and then - at a New York gala - tells the guests that King Charles is „very good”. A sentence that sounds warm, but was said in the wrong place.

The meeting happened on 10 July at Highgrove, Charles's home. Harry came with Meghan and their two children, Archie (7) and Lilibet (5) - a family that has lived apart for years, on the other side of the world, in Montecito. A first family reunion after a long silence. And then, just a few days later, the son is talking about his father's health in front of a crowd at a sports ceremony.

Charles announced he had cancer in February 2024, after a hospital procedure for an enlarged prostate turned up something else. In December he said treatment would ease off in the new year, and the palace said he had responded „exceptionally well”. So, good news - but the good news arrives through a third party, at a New York gala, rather than from the palace itself.

Meghan, meanwhile, stayed in the background. She skipped Harry's public appearance in Birmingham for security reasons, and sources say she felt „sad” not to have been there for the whole week. Security reasons - the same phrase that has trailed this couple since the day they left Britain.

There's something in the whole story that resembles every Balkan family that fell out and scattered. Some stayed home, others went far away, and reconciliation lasts a day and is measured in carefully chosen words. Who will be first to say the father is doing well - and why does it have to be said in front of cameras, instead of in silence, among your own?