Prince Harry Quickly Leaves UK After Seeing King Charles For 1 Hour
Prince Harry has made a rapid exit from the U.K. following a brief visit with his father, King Charles III, in the wake of the monarch's cancer diagnosis.
The Duke of Sussex was seen boarding a plane at London's Heathrow Airport Wednesday, just a day after he paid his father a visit at the King's longtime residence, Clarence House, the Daily Mail reported.
Prince Harry saw his father for less than an hour on Tuesday afternoon and did not meet his estranged older brother, Prince William, according to the outlet.
The meeting between Prince Harry and King Charles was kept short due to the 75-year-old monarch's fatigue from a medical procedure Monday, The Times of London reported.
Prince Harry and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales arrive to attend the 'International Year of The Reef' 2018 meeting at Fishmongers Hall on February 14, 2018 in London, England.
Prince Harry immediately flew to his home country to be by his father's side after Buckingham Palace announced Monday that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer and had begun undergoing treatment.
The duke landed in London Tuesday and proceeded to Clarence House without his wife, Meghan Markle, who remained in California with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
While his visit was notably brief, Page Six reported that Prince Harry remains committed to his plans for "reconciliation" with King Charles.
The outlet cited anonymous Sussex insiders as saying that the details of this meeting, the first face-to-face encounter between father and son since 2022, will be kept private.
An unnamed palace source suggested that Harry seems earnest in his desire to mend fences with King Charles, telling Page Six, "It looks like Harry may be learning his lesson ... he really wants this reconciliation plan."
Photos showed King Charles in good spirits as he and his wife, Queen Camilla, departed Clarence House Tuesday following Prince Harry's visit.
Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Queen Camilla wave as they leave by car from Clarence House in London on February 6, 2024.
The meeting marked the first formal gathering between Harry and his father since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September 2022.
Prince Harry and Markle's relationship with the other members of the British royal family reportedly has been strained since they stepped back from their royal roles and moved to the U.S. in 2020.
Since then, the Sussexes have discussed their royal exit and time in the royal family in several projects, including an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry's memoir "Spare," and a Netflix docuseries.
Prince Harry chats with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales during a visit to The Nek, a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli Peninsula, as part of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 25, 2015 in Gallipoli, Turkey.
Despite this, Charles is reportedly open to mending fences with his younger son, leaving the door to reconciliation ajar.
"[Charles] desperately wants to reconcile with Harry," royal correspondent Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight. "For Charles, the door has always been left open regardless of some of the things Harry has written."
Citing an unnamed source reportedly close to the King, Nicholl added that the King "wants to repair that relationship and indeed have a relationship with his daughter-in-law and his grandchildren."
