King Charles slaps down Prince Harry in big visit snub

The Duke of Sussex made a brief return to the UK but now it’s been reported palace aides “blocked” him from seeing his father for more than 30 minutes.

In 1896 Queen Victoria’s naval fleet managed to go to war with Zanzibar and issue a painful defeat in under 45 minutes. Earlier this month, King Charles managed to do the same in an hour and 45 minutes (though without having to call out the second fleet).

Sometimes history’s most set-in-amber institution, the monarchy, really can get their skates on and make things happen when they are motivated.

Motivated like realising that King Charles’ younger son and number one cause of his piles, Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex. had entered British airspace and was busy putting his tray in the upright position.

King Charles was visited by Prince Harry recently, but the trip lasted a matter of minutes. Picture: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP.

Earlier this month Harry made a 8,500km, same-day sprint to see his father after Buckingham Palace revealed that His Majesty is receiving treatment for cancer.

Within hours of the news breaking, the duke was retrieving his passport from his sock humidor and making his way to Los Angeles airport to go and see his Pa.

Now we know that this was not the plan and that Charles’ office “blocked” Harry from turning up for an extended “heart to heart” outside of London.

Harry had reportedly hoped to have a lengthier visit with his father. Picture: Don Mackinnon / AFP.

This weekend, The Sun reported that it was only when Harry had landed at Heathrow that he learned his visit would not play out as he had planned.

The duke had reportedly boarded the flight with visions of fraternal bonding, only to be, on landing in the UK at 1pm, “instructed to visit Clarence House, his dad’s London home, for a short managed face-to-face meeting — and then told to get himself a hotel for the night.”

No wonder Harry arrived at his father’s London residence, him dressed in the sort of 80s t- shirt and blazer combo that only needed to be accessorised with a keytar, at 2.45pm looking positively storm cloud-ish.

At 3.30pm, the duke left Clarence House for the warm embrace of an unknown five-star hotel and the comforts of a room service menu. He only saw his father for half an hour and with Queen Camilla present too.

Despite Harry’s wishes, he was only allotted a shocking 30 minutes to see King Charles before being made to leave. Picture: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

An insider told The Sun: “Harry came over to see his father, expecting to go to Sandringham.

But instead he was asked to be at Clarence House and was restricted to 30 minutes.

“The fear was that if he went to Sandringham they would never get rid of him.”

This revelation, that Harry thought he was jetting back to the UK for a more substantial visit, joins a growing collection of signs that amount to an ever-louder reversing beeping noise emanating to Montecito.

It’s not a U-turn – it’s a powerful and authentic realignment of values that reflect great spiritual growth. Got it?

After years of Harry and wife Meghan the Duchess of Sussex spending a fair portion of their waking hours painting the royal family as biased, stick-in-the mud meanies, February has seen the duke stage an about-face for the history books.

Harry was heard saying pleasant things about his family during a recent TV interview, despite their tumultuous relationship. Picture: Don Mackinnon / AFP

Along with Harry’s dash back to London, Harry used his latest media outing to – prepare yourself – say nice warm things about his family. We’re really through the looking glass now.

A year ago Harry was busy promoting Spare, with five marquee interviews running across TV and print and in multiple countries during which he and his sad sack mien talked at length about how broken The Firm was.

Via these, and in the pages of his memoir, he made his family out to be a cold-blooded bunch of non-huggers who wanted him and wife Meghan the Duchess of Sussex to hide their authentic lights under bushels and just quietly go and inaugurate suburban swimming pools.

But forget that. Now, Harry’s changed his tune from funeral dirge to a nice bit of uplifting string music, telling GMA he was “grateful” that he had been able to see Charles and thought his father’s diagnosis might help them patch things up.

He also told reporter Will Reeve he plans to “stop in and see my family as much as I can” and “I love my family”.

We are this close to the duke breaking out a guitar to strum the opening chords to Kumbaya or spending his weekends making hand-knotted friendship bracelets for Prince William and Kate the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Then on top of this came The Offer, which is sadly not a pallid rom com being ideated by the remaining Archewell Productions staffers.

Over the weekend someone inside the Sussex base camp got busy briefing The Times’ Kate Mansey that Harry is poised, should the call come, to take to official palace duties should he be called up.

According to Mansey, Harry is “willing to return to a temporary royal role in support of his father during his illness”.

A recent claim suggested that Harry could be willing to return to royal duties to help his father. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation

He’s ironed the suit, polished the medals and had a harried aide try to scrounge up a borrowed private jet (or at least a BA Club Class upgrade.) He’s primed! He’s ready! He’s even got a clean tie!

I hope the 39-year-old isn’t wasting too much time waiting by the phone, with his kind proposal nearly immediately slapped down, like that time Fergie offered to mind the spare keys to the Throne Room.

First The Telegraph reported that “There is no way back” for the duke and that “Palace sources have emphasised that the King’s illness will not change the terms of the Sandringham summit agreement, in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s exit from the working Royal Family was negotiated in detail.”

Then The Mirror’s Russell Myers popped up to report that Prince William “is so angered by his brother’s continued attack on the monarchy that he will block any of his bids” to return to The Firm.

A source close to William told Myers that there: “Is a zero per cent chance Harry is coming back in any capacity.

“Whatever has been discussed between William and the King is private, but it is absolutely and categorically clear that he (William) would not allow Harry to return.”

There is obvious and there is whatever this current situation is.

Harry undertook a 47-hour round trip and spent tens of thousand of dollars, minimum, to see his father for 30 minutes before using the airtime granted to him by GMA to tell the world he’s darn tooting “grateful” to his father, before making sure that the Palace in painfully aware how ready he was to step in should a breach arise.

There are two ways of looking at this – a bit pitiful or loving. Or maybe it’s both.

The UK flit, his GMA comments and now this return to work offer look like Harry trying to undo the damage done by the Sussexes’ years of anti-palace, on-the-record, media manoeuvres and to try to do some irony- free healing. I also think he genuinely wants to help his ailing Pa too.

Repeat it with me now- two things can be true at once. A year ago it would have been simply preposterous to think Harry would, so soon, start eagerly sending these smoke signals about wanting back in. We live in very strange times indeed.

So, back in London, Charles is undergoing unknown treatment for an unknown form of cancer, William is reportedly fuming and Harry is in Montecito getting out the sheet music for Give Peace A Chance. It looks like he’s going to be practising for a very long time.

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.

Originally published as King Charles slaps down Prince Harry in big visit snub