The King has apparently delivered a short, sharp smackdown to Prince Harry, amid reports of a looming potential royal return for his younger son.

It follows Harry’s visit to Britain last week, during which he saw his father privately – their first meeting in more than a year.

Buckingham Palace confirmed the 76-year-old monarch and the Duke of Sussex had a private tea at Clarence House in London last Wednesday (local time). They were together for just under an hour.

The meeting came as Harry, 41, spent four days in Britain for events connected with his charities. He returned home to California via a visit to Ukraine.

On Monday, Britain’s Times newspaper reported that the prospect of a changed role for Harry was raised while he was with his father. But palace sources had “made clear that any suggestion he could come back in a more formal capacity were wide of the mark”.

“The King is a forgiving man but has been absolutely clear in upholding his late mother’s decision that there cannot be ‘half-in, half-out’ public role for members of the family,” it reported a royal source as saying.

The Times article came after The Mail on Sunday wrote that “high-level talks” had begun to bring the King and Harry together “in a public show of unity”.

The last time the King and Harry teamed up for a public engagement was at the Natural History Museum in London in April 2019. Months later, Harry quit as a working royal, moving to Canada and then the US with his wife, Meghan Markle.

There were also reports elsewhere in the British media that he was said to be considering returning his home country four or five times a year, while continuing to live in California with Meghan and their children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4.

Those suggestions were quickly quashed.

“Whoever is behind them seems to have mistaken a brief tea and a slice of cake for the Treaty of Versailles,” one insider told the Daily Mail, referencing the peace agreement signed to end World War I in 1919.

Another royal source, meanwhile, told Page Six: “These syrupy briefings from supposed Sussex sources are precisely why the King and royal family are so hesitant to embark on any road to rapprochement. If the intention is to encourage a rebuilding of trust and relationships, they serve the precise opposite effect.”

For his part, the prince has since denied any desire to rejoin his family for public appearances.

“The duke has made it clear that the focus has to be on his dad,” a spokesperson told The Times.

“Beyond that, and on any other issues as it relates to his family, we won’t be commenting.”

Harry is said to be very happy with his life in Montecito. He and Meghan were out and about at the weekend, turning out to actor Kevin Costner’s California estate to present an award at a function called One805, in honour of emergency services.

Elsewhere, the whole Sussex family has featured in a just-released TV special to mark 70 years of Disneyland. It follows Meghan sharing photos earlier this year as Lilibet celebrated her fourth birthday with a trip to the theme park.

Meghan Markle shared multiple posts on social media of daughter Lilibet’s birthday at Disneyland.

A photo shared on the show showed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex yelling while riding Space Mountain, a favourite ride of Harry’s since his childhood visit.

The prince’s departure from royal duties was accompanied by the spilling of family secrets in his memoir, Spare, including accusing his stepmother the Queen of leaking to the media, revealing a violent altercation with his brother Prince William and claiming his father put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of Meghan.

Other secrets and controversial claims were dropped in the Sussexes’ famous interview with TV talk queen Oprah Winfrey and their Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.

While in Kyiv last week, Harry told The Guardian that despite the damaging revelations, his “conscience is clear”. He said his 2023 autobiography was a “series of corrections to stories already out there” and denied  “that I aired my dirty laundry in public”.

“It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear,” he said.

“It is not about revenge, it is about accountability.”