‘Very sad’: Prince Harry rejected King Charles’ offer to stay in royal residence during UK trip: report

The Duke of Sussex reportedly turned down a surprising invitation from his father while on his latest trip to London.

King Charles III offered Prince Harry to stay in a royal residence when the duke was in the UK, according to friends of the king.

However, Harry, 39, reportedly declined his father’s invitation and stayed at a hotel during the three-day trip instead, The NY Post reports.

Charles’ friends told The Sunday Times that the monarch, 75, was willing to let his youngest son enjoy royal accommodations in London, where Harry visited last week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.

The friends claimed that had Harry stayed in a royal residence, it would’ve been “easier” for him to see Charles amid their estranged relationship.

But sources close to Harry alleged that Charles chose not to see his son during the trip — which Charles’ friends claimed is untrue.

“It’s all very sad,” a friend of the king said to The Sunday Times.

“While it is true that the King is understandably wary about meeting with Harry, given the publicity circus that seems to surround all such visits, he did of course agree to see his son at the most vulnerable moment of his illness, and at very short notice.”

Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex departs The Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary Service at St Paul's Cathedral on May 08, 2024 in London, England. Picture: Getty Images for Invictus Games Foundation.

Britain's King Charles III meets with members of 3 Royal School of Military Engineering, the training base for the Army’s Royal Engineers, at Gibraltar Barracks in Minley, southern England on May 9, 2024. Picture: AFP.

The friend continued, “While he was hardly going to roll out the red carpet the moment this Invictus trip was announced, with doctors advising him to focus on his treatment and recovery, the idea that he refused to find space in his diary … well, let’s say recollections may vary once again.”

On the flip side, a friend of Harry’s insisted that the Duke of Sussex made a request to see his father well ahead of his trip to his birth country.

“I can’t imagine that request fell through the gaps. Even if they didn’t get a request, which I don’t believe, could His Majesty not have made a request to see his son? It was widely known he was coming,” the friend said.

Harry’s friends who allegedly spent time with him in London claimed Harry was “deeply stung” over not seeing Charles.

“It surprises me a lot. I was fully expecting them to meet. I know that’s what he wanted to happen and I don’t know when he’s next back,” one friend said.

The estranged duo’s rift was on clear display on Wednesday as the king hosted a garden party — his first since his cancer diagnosis — at Buckingham Palace for some 8,000 guests.

At the same time — just 2.6 miles away — Harry gave a reading at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral to mark a decade since the inaugural Invictus Games took place in the capital.

After arriving in London Tuesday, Harry left the capital Thursday afternoon and flew to Nigeria where he reunited with his wife, Meghan Markle.

The father of two also didn’t see his brother, Prince William, and his cancer-stricken sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, when he was in the UK.

Harry has been estranged from his family since quitting his royal duties and moving to California in 2020.

He did, however, visit Charles after learning his dad has cancer in February.

This article originally appeared in The NY Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as ‘Very sad’: Prince Harry rejected King Charles’ offer to stay in royal residence during UK trip: report