Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had plenty of support extended from friends and family in the U.K., where there’s a growing feeling that life’s too short for grudges and peace talks will finally go ahead with the Duke once he returns to his homeland in the coming weeks to follow up on the News Group Newspapers lawsuit, a source exclusively tells In Touch. 

Since the Sussexes ditched their royal duties in 2020 to move to North America and start a lifestyle brand empire, relations with Harry’s family quickly deteriorated. Only recently did the palace release birthday wishes for the first time since 2021, when the wayward prince turned 40 in September 2024. As it turns out, the move was a bellwether of the thawing relationship between Harry and his brother Prince William.

“Many people have been reaching out, most of his family has checked in, apparently Kate was in touch on behalf of her and William, which is huge,” the source says. “The messages of goodwill have gone a long way to making Harry feel some renewed hope.” 

Throughout the Sussexes’ self-imposed exile, Harry had made several attempts to warm back up to his father King Charles, but ended up being rebuffed time and time again. Now, with Princess Kate’s help especially, as In Touch previously reported, feelings in the palace have begun to change in Harry and Meghan’s favor, which will hopefully be solidified once he returns to England.

“It’s no secret Harry has been chipping away at trying to end this feud for quite some time now so he’s very grateful for this forward movement,” the source adds.

Preparing to square up against News Group Newspapers, which owns The Sun, spare Harry will have to appear in person to further the case against the company, which he accused of allegedly using unlawful information gathering tactics, colloquially known as phone hacking. A source tells Us Weekly that Meghan, 43, won’t be along for the ride, which may end up benefiting his secondary mission of building goodwill with his family, considering the history between them.

According to court docs from April 2023, Harry stated that William had settled with NGN for “a very large sum” years ago in 2020. Now, a judge has ruled that Harry’s own lawsuit against the company can move forward solely on allegations of unlawful information gathering. The trial is expected to last eight weeks after it begins in January.

“He is going to be heading there soon for his court case over there, he has to attend a hearing,” the insider says, “Now there’s talk of him breaking bread with his father while he’s there, and possibly even William,” the source adds. 

“That may be hoping for too much, but certainly being this close to such a destructive disaster has highlighted the fact that life is very unpredictable, nothing is promised.” 

With all of the stress of the lawsuit, the source adds, “He would have been gutted if his family didn’t reach out, it speaks volumes that they have.”