Harry & Meghan CAN'T ESCAPE THE PAST!

AS PRINCE HARRY WORKS TO REPAIR HIS RIFT WITH KING CHARLES III, A GROWING PULL BACK TO HIS OLD ROYAL LIFE COULD PUT NEW STRAIN ON HIS SEVEN-YEAR MARRIAGE TO DUCHESS MEGHAN.

- 

HE meeting was months in the making. Finally, around 5:20 p.m. on Sept. 10, amid Prince Harry's solo trip to the U.K. for a series of charity events, his blacked-out Range Rover pulled through the gates of Clarence House, the official London residence of his father, King Charles III. Fifty-five minutes later, the Duke of Sussex departed following their first face-to-face meeting in more than 18 months, raising hopes for a lasting reconciliation between the cancer-stricken monarch, 76, and his estranged younger son.

Hours later, Harry made a surprise visit to war-torn Ukraine, where he spent time supporting soldiers wounded in the country's war with Russia. His work with veterans through his Invictus Foundation's sports rehabilitation and recovery initiatives gives him “purpose,” Harry told The Guardian in a new interview, acknowledging that the end of his decade-long military career in 2015 left him struggling to find his way. Invictus, Harry said, “saved me.”

One thing the prince may not be able to save: his marriage. The meeting with his father and trip to Ukraine were wins for Harry, but as his transatlantic life becomes more involved, he may face trouble at home. In the past few months, it's become clear that Harry is being pulled back toward the country and the life he left behind in 2020 when he and wife of seven years, Meghan, 44, alleged they were bullied by the U.K. press and abandoned the royal family to start over in their $14.6 million home in Montecito, Calif., where they live with son Archie, 6, and 4-year-old daughter Lilibet.

PEACE MISSION Harry arrived at Charles' London residence, Clarence House, for a private tea on Sept. 10.