Prince Harry is due back in the UK next week after confirming his attendance at an Invictus Games service at St Paul’s Cathedral, but according to reports, a reunion with his father King Charles looks to be unlikely
King Charles is reportedly unlikely to have a major reunion with Prince Harry next week as his diary is said to be “quite busy”.
It was confirmed yesterday that Harry will be travelling to London in a matter of days to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. He will be at the service of thanksgiving at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday, May 8, where he is expected to provide a reading, marking a decade since the inaugural Invictus Games London in 2014.
The trip to London will mark his first visit to the city since he dashed back to the UK in February in the hours after the King’s cancer diagnosis was made public. Harry spent just 45 minutes with his dad on a whirlwind trip that saw him spend just over 24 hours in his home country.
The pair have had a rocky relationship of late, especially after Harry railed against his family in his controversial memoir Spare. After that latest trip, Harry told US breakfast TV that he was lucky to spend time with his father and talked about how ill health could have a reunifying effect on families.
However, according to The Telegraph, a potential meet-up between Harry and Charles next week seems unlikely as it coincides with the King making his return to public-facing duties and sources saying he his “quite busy”. On the day Harry is in London for the Invictus service, the publication says Charles has his weekly audience with the Prime Minister. He could also be expected to appear at the first of the annual Buckingham Palace garden parties too that day and other appointments in the diary for that day and the rest of the week.
He is also not expected in any way to see his older brother Prince William or his sister-in-law the Princess of Wales, who is undergoing cancer treatment. The two brothers have been at loggerheads for many years although Harry and Meghan did publicly send their best wishes to Kate when she announced her cancer news.
It is unclear exactly when Harry will arrive and then leave the UK. His son Prince Archie celebrates his fifth birthday two days before the Invictus event so is likely to be in the US then to help mark the occasion. After his UK trip, Harry is believed to be meeting up with wife Meghan Markle and the pair will then travel to Nigeria together for a working trip to the country.
Meanwhile, Harry’s trip to the UK will also be his first visit to his home country since suffering a bitter blow in his legal case surrounding his security arrangements in the UK. Harry took legal action over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that ruled he would no longer be given the “same degree” of publicly-funded protection when in the country.
The court was told that Harry believes his children, Archie and Lilibet cannot “feel at home” in the UK if it is “not possible to keep them safe” there. At a previous hearing of the case, in a written statement, Harry said: “It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. The UK is my home.
“The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home, as much as where they live at the moment in the United States. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
In a ruling issued in February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case that he was “singled out” and treated “less favourably” by the decision and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. And in another blow this month, a judicial spokesperson said that Harry has lost his initial bid to appeal against the decision. However, the duke is still able to ask the Court of Appeal directly for the green light to bring an appeal.
