Today on Lorraine, Prince Harry’s latest visit to the UK to mark a decade of the Invictus Games was unpacked by Royal Expert Sarah Hewson and host Lorraine Kelly. The ITV presenter gave her own verdict on the “sad” visit that saw the Duke of Sussex unable to meet with King Charles, while Sarah said he “cut a lonely figure” without his wife Meghan Markle by his side.
According to a spokesman for Prince Harry, he will not see his father during his visit due to the King’s “full programme”. The Duke of Sussex last visited the UK in February, when he visited King Charles soon after his cancer diagnosis.
The spokesperson said: “The duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.” Buckingham Palace is not commenting on the duke’s visit.
The Invictus Games, which Prince Harry co-founded with the assistance of Sir Keith Mills and the Ministry of Defense, is an international multi-sport for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. Prince William will not be in attendance for today’s event celebrating 10 years of the games.
Speaking about Prince Harry’s visit on today’s show, Lorraine lamented: “It’s just sad this, isn’t it? His dad’s going through cancer treatment and obviously, Kate [Middleton], his sister-in-law, is the same.
“And they’re not even going to meet even though they’re not that far apart.”
Kate recently revealed her own cancer battle, explaining she has been undergoing preventative chemotherapy to treat it.
“Sad is exactly the word for this,” Sarah agreed with Lorraine, speculating that, while it seemed as though this could be a “time of reconciliation” for the royals, it appears that is now “not the case”.
She said: “They find themselves in the same country and they’ve usually got 5000 miles and an Atlantic ocean dividing them. That’s not the case now, but there’s still no time for a meeting.”
Sarah went on to say that the father and son were “less than three miles apart” yesterday, while Lorraine said the idea of “other priorities” allegedly being more important to King Charles than seeing his son as a “real stinger”.
Sarah then suggested: “If the King really wanted to, and I know he’s got lots on, he could find time. It’s his son.”
While Lorraine argued: “It’s such a shame, but then there’s that thing of ‘If we do have a conversation with him, is it going to end up on Netflix? Is it going to end up in another book?’”
The pair then agreed that the Invictus Games is the “best thing Prince Harry’s ever done”, while Sarah sadly reflected that Prince Harry was “very much a part of the Invictus family now” but “not a part of his own family”.
“And that is what is so tragic here, the gulf really is between him and his family,” she continued. “And those wounds – because of what was said in Spare and in the Netflix documentary – are taking a very long time to heal.”
She then added: “It’s interesting that Harry has come here on his own without Meghan because Meghan has been a huge supporter of what he’s been doing.”
The Royal Expert acknowledged that the Duchess of Sussex might not be in Britain “because of the argument over not feeling safe in the UK”.
“But also, I don’t think Meghan wants to come back,” she suggested. “I don’t think she feels welcome in this country.
“Last time they were at St Paul’s for the Platinum Jubilee service, there were boos outside the cathedral for them.
“So we end up with Harry cutting a pretty lonely figure, actually, and that’s really sad to see,” she concluded, as Lorraine agreed that the situation had also made her feel sad.
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9am on ITV and ITVX.
