Prince Harry leaving London just a day after he arrived

Prince Harry is leaving the UK barely a day after he arrived following his meeting with King Charles and with few, if any, royal rifts healed.

Prince Harry has already left Britain, barley more than a day after he arrived, following his whirlwind dash to be by his father’s bedside.

Buckingham Place announced King Charles III had a form of cancer on Monday prompting the Duke of Sussex to jump on a plane to London from the US.

Harry is reported to have met the King for around 45 minutes at Clarence House on Tuesday afternoon.

Following Harry’s visit the King took a helicopter to his home in Sandringham, in England’s east, to recover from his first bout of cancer treatment with Queen Camilla.

But after 26 hours on home soil he departed London’s Heathrow Airport on a British Airways flight to Los Angeles.

It could see him back in California, and with Meghan Markle and kids Archie and Lilibet, by mid evening on Wednesday, US time.

The Duke is rumoured to have stayed at a luxury hotel after meeting with his father as the Sussexes no longer have the keys to a royal residence.

King Charles was seen on Tuesday for the first time since his cancer was announced. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

‘Not a successful visit’

Talking to UK newspaper The Express, royal watcher Marlene Koenig said Harry’s brief stay did not bode well for a patching up of the royal family’s wounds.

“That tells me this was not a successful visit in terms of being able to spend more time with his father. This is sad.”

Prince William has made very clear that he has no plans to see his estranged brother and has returned to work today after caring for wife Princess Kate as she recovers from serious abdominal surgery.

According to The Times a mutual friend might still be able to heal the rift between the brothers.

Mark Dyer, a former Welsh Guards Officer and former equerry to King Charles, acted as a mentor to both brothers and kept in contact with Harry when he moved to California.

Prince Harry spent a lonely night in London. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP)

His son Jasper served as page boy at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.

A source told the newspaper: “Mark can always be relied on 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. He also has the benefit of knowing what it is like to live through a cancer diagnosis.”

Brothers William and Harry no plans to see each other. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

However the bad blood between brothers is not likely to be healed easily with Prince William deeply hurt by claims in Harry’s book Spare that he attacked Harry and that he chose his wife Princess Kate because she “fit the mould”.

Camilla, although not likely to hold a grudge, is also said to be very hurt by Harry depicting her as an evil stepmother character in his book.

He wrote: “I had complex feelings about gaining a step-parent, who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.”

Inside Harry and Charles’ 30 minute reunion

King Charles spent 30 ­minutes with estranged son Harry on Tuesday, their first meeting in 16 months.

The Duke flew over 8000km from the US to London after his dad’s cancer diagnosis.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, landed at Heathrow at lunchtime following a ten-and-a-half hour overnight flight.

He was whisked to London while Charles, 75, delayed a helicopter flight to Sandringham so they could hold their first meeting in 16 months.

The King was said to be “doing very well” and “entirely his normal self”.

A friend who saw His Majesty said: “If you didn’t know there was anything wrong with him you wouldn’t know.”

Another Palace source said the King was “on his usual good form”, and “just a little frustrated that his condition has affected not just his own plans but impacted on others”.

In an unusual move, Charles kept his helicopter waiting so he could personally welcome Harry at his London home Clarence House.

Sources said the King made a “significant” decision to delay his travel plans after his son’s gesture to fly across the Atlantic at short notice.

Their meeting was thought to have lasted little more than half an hour, with Harry and his entourage leaving Clarence House around 45 minutes after arriving.

It was the first time he and Charles had met in private since Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, though they have been in telephone contact.

Charles looked happy with the reunion as he was pictured for the first time since the Palace announced his cancer diagnosis on Monday.

He smiled next to Camilla in the back of the State Bentley as they waved to crowds on the short trip between Clarence House and Buckingham Palace.

The King and Queen eventually took their helicopter from the Palace gardens an hour later than planned.

Palace sources say he will divide time in his country residences and return to London for meetings, business and outpatient treatment for his cancer.