‘Turning point’: King and Harry break six-month silence in birthday ceasefire

King Charles received a surprise 75th birthday serenade from grandkids Archie and Lilibet as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to thaw the royal feud after six-month silence.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reached a ‘turning point’ in their standoff with the royal family after sending King Charles a surprise birthday serenade from Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 1.

The estranged father and son, who hadn’t spoken for six months, will speak again next week after a “warm”, “friendly and cordial” birthday call for the Monarch’s 75th birthday signalled willingness from both sides to bury the hatchet.

The King, who also spoke with Meghan Markle for the first time in months, was delighted after receiving a prerecorded video message from his grandchildren singing happy birthday, according to the UK’s Telegraph.

It was the first time since April that the King had spoken to Harry, who was not invited to the official birthday dinner at Clarence House this week.

Prince Harry called King Charles on his 75th birthday. Picture: Supplied

“The King was extremely busy but is polite and loves his son and his grandchildren, and not so mean that he would not take a call on his birthday,” a source told the Sun of the phone call.

While plans to speak again were made during the birthday call, sources said “there is still a long way to go to med the rift created over many years”.

“And the deeper issues caused by allegations in the Netflix series and Spare are not healed with a phone call,” they added.

Guests at the King’s birthday dinner included old friends, minor and major royals, and musician Jools Holland, according to The Daily Mail, which also named William, Kate, Princess Beatrice, Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto and brother David Armstrong-Jones, Prince Philip’s friend Penny Knatchbull, Lady Susan Hussey, the former lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

PRINCE HARRY TO CALL THE KING

The Duchess of York led birthday wishes to King Charles as His Majesty turns 75, amid reports he is expecting a transatlantic call from his estranged son, The Duke of Sussex.

The monarch is on Tuesday celebrating his birthday with a gathering of close family and friends at Clarence House.

Sarah Ferguson took to Instagram to wish Charles III a Happy Birthday accompanied with a black and white picture of him and the caption: “Wishing the happiest of birthdays to His Majesty, King Charles III. Long live the King.”

It comes as sources reveal the Duke of Sussex will today call his father from his home in Montecito in California to wish him well.

In better times. Picture: Jackson/Getty Images

The Duke last week claimed he had not been invited to his fathers celebrations fuelling reports the rift between the pair was unmendable.

A spokesperson for the exiled royal told the Messenger: “In response to UK media headlines, there has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday.

Another source claimed Buckingham Palace “never reached out” with a birthday invitation.

But now it’s been revealed that a transatlantic phone call has been scheduled.

Sources close to the Duke told the BBC that Harry will be speaking to his father – and that after the invitation snub the call could be seen as an olive branch.

King Charles will mark his birthday with business-as-usual and the launch of a project to help people facing food poverty and a reception for NHS nurses and midwives.

Ceremonial gun salutes will mark the day, including at the Tower of London.

Public service rather than glitzy partying is being emphasised in the King’s birthday engagements, although it is expected that there will be a private dinner for close family and friends in the evening.

Britain's King Charles III reacts while holding a cup and saucer, as he meets with guests during a 75th birthday party for him. Picture: AFP

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will not be present, but well-placed sources say his son will place a call to his father in the afternoon.

The centrepiece of the King’s birthday will be the official launch of his Coronation Food Project aimed at tackling the two-fold problem of increasing numbers of people unable to afford food, while millions of tonnes of surplus food is being thrown away.

Discussing the issue in an article in the Big Issue magazine, the King said: “Food need is as real and urgent a problem as food waste.”

He told the magazine that “cost-of-living pressures” were resulting in “too many families and individuals missing out on nutritious meals”.

The project aims to create eight distribution hubs to connect surplus food with what it says are 14 million people facing food insecurity.

An animation promoting the Coronation Food Project will be shown on Tuesday evening across digital advertising hoardings at Piccadilly Circus in London.

When the then-Prince Charles was born on 14 November 1948, there was still food rationing in post-war Britain.

To mark the birth of the then-Princess Elizabeth’s first child, there was a scheme to provide a gift food parcel to every family who had had a child on the same day.

According to National Archives records, more than 2,600 gift parcels were distributed in this era of austerity, with items including soap, butter, dried egg, honey, marmalade, bacon and beef.

King Charles began his birthday celebrations on Monday sharing the afternoon with other people the same age with a tea party at his house at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

He is also marking the 75th anniversary of organisations of the same vintage, including the NHS, with 400 nurses and midwives invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace later on Tuesday.

Originally published as ‘Turning point’: King and Harry break six-month silence in birthday ceasefire