Prince Harry may have switched flights in order to get home quicker to Los Angeles after a flying visit to London to see his cancer-stricken father King Charles III, it has emerged.
The Duke of Sussex, who spent just 45 minutes with his father but did not see his brother Prince William at all, arrived at Heathrow Airport just before 2pm yesterday and is now back in LA, where he will be reunited with his wife Meghan Markle.
Harry, 39, is understood to have been spotted leaving a Delta flight that landed at LAX airport at 6.16pm local time on Wednesday (2.16am Thursday UK time).
It’s understood that he switched to the Delta flight because the British Airways flight he was supposed to take was ‘delayed by two hours’, The Express reports.
Flight records show that the BA flight 269 that he was expected to take was due to depart Heathrow at 3.05pm but actually left at 5.19pm.
Flight records show that Harry was expected to depart Heathrow at 3.05pm but actually left at 5.19pm
Harry rushed over to see his father King Charles and Queen Camilla after the monarch’s devastating cancer diagnosis
Prince Harry arrives at Heathrow Airport earlier this week after flying over from California
Harry had flown more than 5,000 miles from Los Angeles to London after his father informed him of his devastating cancer diagnosis.
He flew into London on a ten-hour flight and arrived at Clarence House at 2.42pm on Tuesday before spending around 45 minutes with Charles.
They held a ‘brief meeting’ before the King and Camilla were driven to Buckingham Palace where a helicopter was waiting to take them back to Sandringham in Norfolk.
The Duke is not believed to have seen his brother William or sister-in-law Kate Middleton, who is recovering from her abdominal surgery and on extended leave.
While waiting for the duke to return home, Meghan was pictured flashing a smile yesterday as she drove around near the couple’s Montecito home.
Royal expert Jennie Bond told MailOnline that Prince Harry’s visit to the UK shows how deep the royal rift has actually become.
She claimed: ‘William has shown today that he has disowned Harry, he doesn’t want to know him, and he probably doesn’t even like him anymore. Harry is just not part of his life.
‘That rift is so deep now, and that has been shown by Harry being here and them not meeting, so deep that I really do wonder if it can ever, ever be mended.’
And Robert Jobson told Mail+ that although Charles was perhaps touched by his ‘darling boy’s’ gesture in reality it has caused ‘some disquiet by ‘taking it upon himself’ to fly over unbidden’.
Charles, 75, was seen in public for the first time since his cancer diagnosis when he left his offices at Clarence House after a brief reunion with Harry.
Prince Harry is pictured arriving at Clarence House in London on Tuesday to meet his father
King Charles and Queen Camilla are pictured leaving Clarence House in London on Tuesday
King Charles and Queen Camilla attend church at Sandringham in Norfolk on February 4, 2024
The meeting has raised hopes that the pair can repair their troubled relationship after Harry publicly criticised the royal family for unconscious racism and complained about the way Meghan was treated by palace officials.
Harry and Meghan walked away from royal duties in 2020 and now live in California.
Although the duke met his father, there was no meeting between the estranged siblings William and Harry, who have had a fractured relationship for a number of years.
Last night, the Prince of Wales spoke about the King’s cancer diagnosis for the first time as he expressed his gratitude to the public for their ‘kind messages of support’.
William’s words of praise, delivered during a fundraising gala dinner, also recognised those who wished the Princess of Wales well, as she recovers from planned abdominal surgery.
He told the guests: ‘It means a great deal to us all.’
The heir to the throne was back at work yesterday supporting the King as his brother Harry left London.
William had taken time off to support his family after Kate’s operation on January 16, and returned to public duties once her care and recovery had settled.
But his first day back on duty came as the royal family was dealing with the health scare surrounding his father, the head of state whose reign will pass the 17-month mark on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex did not meet William or Kate during his trip. Pictured: Harry arrives in a car at the Windsor Suite at Heathrow Airport this afternoon
William gave his pre-dinner speech at the event, raising funds for London’s Air Ambulance Charity’s new fleet of helicopters, where guests included Hollywood star Tom Cruise and Arsenal football club manager Mikel Arteta.
The prince said: ‘I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all.
‘It’s fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather medical focus, so I thought I’d come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all.’
Weekly audiences between the King and Rishi Sunak are expected to resume in person in two weeks following Charles’ cancer diagnosis, it is understood.
Downing Street and Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of confirming details of a call between the two on Wednesday, in an attempt to show the King was carrying on with his duties.
The Prime Minister wished Charles well in a brief phone conversation before formal face-to-face audiences are set to start again on February 21.
Kate left hospital last Monday and returned to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor to be reunited with her three children, but the 42-year-old future queen is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.
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