Prince Harry wants to send a message after intentionally leaking his plans while in the UK, a royal expert has claimed.
The 39-year-old Duke of Sussex is back in England for a whirlwind visit ahead of a special ceremony in London to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, and despite intense speculation, his wife Meghan Markle - and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet - did not accompany him on the trip. Harry is due to give a speech at the event at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on Wednesday, but no other members of the Royal Family are due to attend the service.
As he landed in the UK, Harry unexpectedly released a statement announcing his plans while back in his native England, as he revealed he would not be meeting his father King Charles. “It unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty's full programme,” a spokesperson for the Sussexes confirmed. “The Duke of course is understanding of his father's diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.” Later that day, during an event in London, Harry said he would be meeting close pal Guy Monson that evening, and told the audience: "We're having dinner at his place later so he'll definitely be there."
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PR expert Jane Owen believes that Harry’s decision to lay bare his plans while on his brief trip to London was to “send a message” to his estranged family that he had no intention of disrupting his busy schedule to accommodate them. “I would say that Harry is by now an expert on communication. He knows that every single thing he says will be picked apart by the media and the public, just like we are doing now,” she told The Mirror.
“Therefore it’s definitely not an accident that his dinner plans were mentioned. I would guess that he wanted to send the message that he’s busy and has plans and that they are to do with his work. It could be directed towards his father or Meghan to show his independence or even just in general to indicate a productive busy schedule to the world at large,” Jane explained.
His decision to swerve a meeting with his family comes just weeks after he claimed he would be visiting his father after his emergency trip to see Charles in february when his cancer diagnosis was made public. He travelled to London, met with his father at Clarence House, and then stayed overnight in a hotel before jetting back to Los Angeles the following day. Just after his visit, he told ABC News that he hoped to return to London soon, and added: “I've got other trips planned that will take me through the UK, or back to the UK, and so I'll stop in and see my family as much as I can.”
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US .