King Charles reportedly had a private meeting with David Beckham after being unable to meet with his son Prince Harry during his visit to the U.K. earlier in the week.
According to The Times, the former England football captain, 49, met the King, 75, for a “private meeting” on Friday.
“Beckham is understood to have visited Charles to learn more about his charity, the King’s Foundation,” the outlet added.
PEOPLE understands that the Duke of Sussex invited his father, King Charles, his brother, Prince William and his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton,
to his celebratory Invictus Games event on Wednesday, May 8, which they did not attend.
The Princess of Wales, 42, is outside of the public eye while receiving cancer treatment, while Prince William, 41, conducted investitures at Windsor Castle on May 8.
King Charles recently resumed forward-facing duties while receiving cancer treatment, and hosted the first garden party of the season at Buckingham Palace on May 8. The party coincided with the Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, which Prince Harry launched in London in 2014.
It emerged earlier this week that Prince Harry, 39, wouldn’t be able to meet with his father the King during his time in the U.K. due to the monarch’s “full” schedule.
“In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not The Duke will meet with his father while in the U.K. this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program. The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon,” a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex said on May 7.
The timing could have aligned for Beckham and the King to meet at his Highgrove home, as the monarch was seen leaving Windsor Castle en route to Highgrove, Gloucestershire on May 10. The area is home to the King’s beloved country home Highgrove House, which has been a respite for the royal since he bought it in 1980.
Beckham received his OBE from Queen Elizabeth for services to soccer in 2003 and has socially known the royal family for years, having attended the royal weddings of both Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011 and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 with his wife, Victoria Beckham. Like many Brits, Beckham stood in line for 12 hours in London to pay respects to the late Queen Elizabeth when her coffin laid in state at Westminster Hall following her death in September 2022.
On May 9, King Charles made his first solo engagement since resuming his royal duties at the Royal School of Military Engineering.
Before his Invictus-related trip, which was highlighted by a panel on May 7 and the Service of Thanksgiving on May 8, Prince Harry was most recently in the U.K. to visit his father following Buckingham Palace’s announcement of the sovereign’s cancer diagnosis in February.
The Duke of Sussex then traveled to Canada for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025’s One Year to Go celebration with his wife Meghan Markle, and revealed in an interview there that he hoped to see his father as much as possible.
When Good Morning America’s Will Reeve asked Harry about how he first learned of his father’s cancer diagnosis, he replied, “I spoke to him. I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could.”
“Look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that,” Prince Harry said. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex relocated to her home state of California after stepping back from their royal roles in 2020, and live there with their children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 2.
As for whether King Charles’ diagnosis could have a “reunifying effect” on the royal family, Harry, who spent time with Invictus Games competitors and their families at the countdown kickoff, said: “Absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these families, I see it on a day-to-day basis, the strength of the family unit coming together.”
Following the Duke of Sussex’s solo trip to the U.K. for the Invictus Games anniversary, he and Meghan arrived in Nigeria on May 10 for their first international tour since stepping back from their royal roles.
The couple are in the country at the invitation of the Chief of Defense Staff, Nigeria’s highest-ranking military official, and the busy itinerary highlighting Invictus continues on May 11 and May 12.