Prince Harry and Meghan Markle break 6 MONTHS of silence to call King Charles & wish him a happy 75th birthday

PRINCE Harry broke his silence yesterday by ringing his father King Charles to wish him a happy 75th birthday — their first conversation in more than six months.

The gracious monarch is also understood to have spoken with his daughter-in-law Meghan during the transatlantic call on a packed day of engagements.

The chats were said to be friendly and cordial — the first time father and son had spoken since April, just before Charles’s Coronation.

A source said: “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.”

Harry’s camp actively made it known he was going to call his father — with the story even appearing on the BBC’s website.

Despite visiting the UK several times since the Coronation, Harry, 39, has not seen his father since that historic day in May.

They have not spoken face to face since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September last year and it is known the King has previously been reluctant to take Harry’s calls following rows over Megxit and his money.

Queen Camilla and Prince William have also been urging the King not to engage with Harry after he blasted the Royal Family and the UK on Netflix and in his memoir Spare.

But Charles was said to be keeping the door open for his “dear boy” and there is an open invite to meet when he is in the UK.

The Sun understands that during yesterday’s conversation, Harry, Meghan and Charles made plans for them to speak again soon.

But our source added: “There is still a long way to go to mend 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.”

Charles had insisted his birthday would be a “normal working day”.

He chose to spend it helping those suffering from food poverty and to recognise the heroic efforts of the NHS staff and midwives.

He was full of smiles when he was joined by Camilla in Didcot, Oxon, to launch his much-heralded Coronation Food Project, which aims to end food waste. He laughed nervously as he was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday at the South Oxford Food and Education Alliance.

Baroness Casey, who chairs the Coronation Food Project, told him: “It is such an honour for us, and support for the project just wouldn’t have happened without you.”

The project was devised by the King amid shock over food waste and the cost of living crisis.

His birthday scheme will work with — and raise funds for — existing food waste projects around the country, to save and circulate more surplus food and use it for social good.

It will also help to scale up nationwide schemes, build warehouses, and buy fridges, freezers and refrigerated lorries.

Inside the hub’s offices, Charles and Camilla popped into the kitchen where chef Alex Mackay and a team of volunteers were making hot dishes from leftover food.

The King chatted to food “influencers”, including 2021 Bake Off runner-up Crystelle Pereira, and the chief execs of several major supermarkets and food suppliers.

Dame Martina Milburn, co-chair of the food project, said: “What we want to do is take surplus food and use it for social good. That’s it.

“His Majesty asked us what we could do to help and here we are.”

She added: “We are looking at ways to get more surplus food into the system, creating more superhubs to distribute it and financially supporting charities and organisations who are already working in this field.

“It needed the King and his leadership to galvanise people and bring everyone together. It is totally him.”

Later, Charles hosted 400 healthcare professionals at Buckingham Palace — remarking how he had reached his own personal milestone in the same year as the NHS turned 75.

Health workers from India, the Philippines, Poland and Kenya, representing 150,000 international NHS workers, met the King, along with several Palestinian nurses who were previously displaced in Lebanon and Jordan.

Marina Brizar, of refugee nurses programme Talent Beyond Boundaries, said together with NHS England the organisation has so far helped 200 nurses to come to Britain with their families to work in the NHS.

In the Blue Drawing Room, Charles was first introduced to new Health Secretary Victoria Atkins — in her first full day in the job following the Cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

Last night, the King was surrounded by close friends and family at Clarence House for dinner.