Prince Harry celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games on Wednesday, May 8, but King Charles wasn't in attendance.
Harry's event was held at St Paul's Cathedral while Charles hosted a garden party at the same time at Buckingham Palace — just three miles away from the Invictus Games celebration.
OK! previously reported Charles was unable to see Harry due to his "full" schedule, and royal expert Katie Nicholl alluded to the Duke of Sussex being saddened by his father's absence.
"He hasn't got many other plans," Nicholl told an outlet. "He was, of course, hoping to see his family. Possibly that's why the trip was three days... but as we now know, there will be no family meetings."
"I think certainly the fact that time hasn't been made over these three days for father and son to have some sort of meeting — when you consider their last meeting was just about 30 or 40 minutes when Harry flew all the way from California to see his father — certainly fuels that narrative of a rift," she added.
After relocating to the U.S., Harry hasn't spent a significant amount of time with his father.
"He very much wants to be close to his son again and to see more of his grandchildren, who he's barely seen since they were born," Nicholl said of Charles' desires.
"There is a sense of surprise that he hasn't made time to see his son," the biographer shared of Charles being too busy.
According to the author, the "fundamental issue" is ‘this breakdown of trust between Harry and the family' due to Harry's various tell-all projects.
"Clearly, there are still some pretty major trust issues and concerns on Charles' part that any private meetings or conversations that he has with his son may not stay private for long," she stated. "I think Harry's going to have to work really quite hard to repair some of that trust before he's going to get a sort of privileged audience with his father."
"There is just a feeling of of disappointment, certainly on Harry's part, and genuine sadness that he hasn't got to see his father," she added.
Prior to landing, there were reports of Harry and Charles scheduling a brief meeting, but it never happened.
"When you take away the rift and who they are in terms of the royal family, they are a family, and Harry's gone through an awful lot since finding out his father's been diagnosed with cancer," Nicholl shared. "He's all those miles away, understandably very worried about his papa, as he calls him, and he is here for three days."
"I think it was very much his hope that he'd get to see his father. I'm told he's rather hurt and quite disappointed that he hasn't had that opportunity," the journalist continued.
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Aside from their relationship, Nicholl alluded to Charles' cancer diagnosis becoming a catalyst for reconciliation.
"Harry has said that he had hoped that, out of the adversity of his father's illness, he would reunify with the family. It's clearly very much his intention," Nicholl explained. "My understanding is the king also wants to sort of rekindle his relationship with his son."
"He loves his son. He's a very forgiving man. I think he certainly wants to move on. While time hasn't been made available on this particular trip, it'll certainly be the king's hope that he will get to see Harry and his family at some point later this year," she concluded.