Prince Harry stayed in a hotel on Tuesday night, is leaving the UK today (update)

Some Sussex Squaders think Prince Harry “got played” by his family yet again, but I’m not so sure. Prince Harry flew overnight, catching a flight out of LAX on Monday and arriving at Heathrow mid-day on Tuesday. Over the course of about 24 hours, the British media went into speculation overdrive, amplifying narratives about reconciliations and more. Then Harry and his father only met for less than an hour at Clarence House before Charles got the hell out of there and choppered to Norfolk. Hilariously, the royal reporters were super-mad that they couldn’t track Harry’s movements past Clarence House, and there was even some suggestion that he might have been driven to Sandringham too. He was not. According to the Mail, Harry spent Tuesday night in a hotel, and he’s likely flying back to California today. Good.

Prince Harry ‘would have gladly accepted’ a reunion with his brother William but instead has ‘spent a night in a London hotel’, it has been claimed. Although Harry and the Prince of Wales have no plans to meet during the Duke’s stay, it is understood mutual friend Mark Dyer – who was a mentor to the princes after the death of Diana – could act as bridge between the siblings, according to a source.

The Duke of Sussex flew more than 5,000 miles yesterday from his home in California to London for what ended up being a 45-minute meeting with his cancer-stricken father King Charles.

Harry did not spend the night in any royal residence, with him being effectively homeless on UK soil since his eviction from Frogmore Cottage last year, and it is thought he may have instead stayed in a luxury hotel. He is not expected to stay in London for long and is set to return to his Montecito home in Los Angeles that he shares with his wife Meghan Markle and two children, Archie, four, and Lilibet, two, following his whistle-stop visit.

The Duke is expected to join Meghan in Canada next week for an event to commemorate a year until the Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler.

A source told The Times former Welsh Guards officer Mr Dyer, who recently recovered from stomach cancer, has been offering Harry support in recent years. ‘Mark can always be relied upon to talk sense into Harry and will be a stoic under-the-radar support for Harry in what has the propensity to be a stress-inducing time for him, the source said.

[From The Daily Mail]

This is not Harry getting played, I’ll say it again – Harry made this journey for himself, because he’s a loving son who wanted to see his dad after Charles’s cancer diagnosis. Charles is the one who couldn’t clear a full hour for the son he neglected, financially abused and exiled. Charles is the one who completely blew up the British media’s reconciliation fantasies. And to not even allow Harry to stay overnight at Clarence House or Kensington Palace or St. James’s Palace? Wild. Charles really does think that “how could we even find room in our 200-bedroom palaces for Harry?” is a reasonable argument. Anyway, I hope Harry has a nice flight home to California.

Update: Harry just arrived at Heathrow and he’s flying back to California. The Telegraph calculated that Harry spent 25 hours on British soil. They also write that Harry’s “gesture is understood to have been warmly welcomed by the King.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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