Harry’s UK Visits Since Leaving Royal Life: A Timeline of His Trips for Momentous Occasions, from Funerals to Coronations”

Prince Harry has been all smiles this week on his return to the UK to mark the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games – even if his father the King is too busy to see him.

It comes more than four years after his and Meghan’s final royal engagement before ‘Megxit’ – a very awkward appearance alongside Prince William and Kate at the Commonwealth Day service in 2020.

Since moving to sunny California, Harry has been back only a handful of times – and usually without his wife, the Duchess of Sussex.

The Duke first returned for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, before coming again that summer when he and his brother put their differences aside to unveil a statue of his late mother Princess Diana.

He and Meghan then made a secret visit to see Queen Elizabeth II and Charles at Windsor in April 2022, before the couple returned again for Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in June.

There was another solo visit for the King’s Coronation last year, before Harry very briefly returned again to see his father following his cancer diagnosis.

The funeral of Prince Phillip – April 2021
Prince Harry made the ten-hour flight to Britain for the funeral of his grandfather Prince Phillip in April 2021.

Speaking in his and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry said he was ‘worried’ and ‘afraid’ to return to the UK amid tensions between him and Meghan and his family but that he was able to work through any trepidation using coping skills learned in therapy.

‘It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds,’ said the Duke of Sussex.

Prince Harry joined Prince William, Peter Phillips, David Armstrong-Jones and Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence behind the Land Rover Defender hearse which carried the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin during the Ceremonial Procession.

His contact with the Queen was limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is understood that Harry was anxious to return to America to be with Meghan, who was seven months pregnant with their daughter Lilibet at the time.

Unveiling of Princess Diana statue – July 2021
Harry and William briefly set aside their differences to reveal a statue of their late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, on what would have been her 60th birthday.

The brothers smiled as they pulled the green cover to reveal the bronze sculpture in the remodelled Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace.

Charles was not present at the ceremony, which was changed to a ‘private event’ instead of the large celebration to mark Diana’s life as originally intended.

The move to scale back the unveiling was largely due to bad blood between the brothers.

It was only broadcast after the reveal was over and the Duke of Sussex was leaving.

Secret talks with the Queen and Charles – April 2022
Harry and Meghan visited Britain en route to the Invictus Games in Holland – marking the first time the Duchess set foot on British soil since Megxit.

They arrived incognito and stayed overnight with Princess Eugenie and her family at Frogmore Cottage, the home they kept on despite quitting the UK.

Although they attempted to keep their visit top secret, the couple were spotted walking to Windsor Castle by churchgoers arriving for the Royal Maundy Service.

It is believed there were heading to the Queen’s official residence to see the monarch as well as Harry’s father, Charles.

The Platinum Jubilee – June 2022
During a lunch behind closed doors as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen reportedly met her great-granddaughter Lilibet for the first time.

Royal commentator Omid Scoobie – widely seen as a cheerleader for Harry and Meghan – told BBC Breakfast at the time: ‘Those moments with Lilibet are very much private between them and the Queen and of course we know how much she’s been looking forward to it.

‘They’ve been held back by a pandemic. Of course the times that Harry has been here it’s just been by himself for quite sombre occasions. And so this really was the first time.

Lilibet celebrated her first birthday the following day, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a photo of her to mark the occasion.

Queen’s death and funeral – September 2022
Harry and Meghan were in London for the WellChild Awards Ceremony when the Queen’s health deteriorated at her beloved Scottish home.

But Harry flew via private jet alone, arriving to Balmoral shortly after the Queen’s death was announced to the public.

In his explosive biography Spare, Harry claimed that his father instructed him not to bring his wife Meghan to visit the dying Queen Elizabeth II, citing ‘nonsensical and disrespectful’ reasons.

Enraged by Charles’ perceived snub, Harry allegedly retorted: ‘Don’t ever speak about my wife that way!’, prompting the King to offer an apology.

The couple later attended the Queen’s funeral in Westminster Abbey without their children.
Coronation of King Charles – May 2023
At the King’s Coronation, Harry sat two rows behind his brother at Westminster Abbey.

The Duke of Sussex was not invited to appear on the balcony following the ceremony.

Instead he hopped on a plane back to America just hours after his father was crowned, eager to get back for his son’s birthday celebrations.

A well-placed source said The King seemed ‘genuinely quite disappointed that he didn’t stay’.

The monarch even raised a glass to toast Archie on his fourth birthday – a grandson he has barely seen.

Visit to see King after cancer diagnosis – February 2024
Prince Harry made a fleeting visit to see the King after he revealed his cancer diagnosis.

Harry met with his father at Clarence House for a mere 30 minutes in what was their first face-to-face encounter for 16 months.

Leading Royal expert Robert Jobson suggested the meeting was not any longer to stop the monarch from experiencing unnecessary stress.