Prince Harry has already left London after visiting King Charles

It was a flying visit

Prince Harry and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales arrive to attend the 'International Year of The Reef' 2018 meeting at Fishmongers Hall on February 14, 2018 in London, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince Harry has already left London after arriving in the UK from California on Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex paid a true flying visit to his home country after learning that his father King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer.

Harry landed in London on Tuesday, was granted a short visit with his dad, then was spotted on his way out of the country at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, Hello! reports.

Since moving to California with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020, Harry has had a very difficult relationship with the Royal Family. With that said, he and his father have apparently begun repairing their bond, starting with a "warm" phone call they shared on the King's birthday last November.

According to several sources, though Harry and Charles' meeting was extremely short, it was a very important step towards reconciliation.

"This is a father and son who have seen very little of each other over the past four years," royal correspondent Daniela Relph told the Daily Mail.

"The relationship has been incredibly strained and complicated.

"It mattered that Harry was here, it mattered that the King wanted to see him."

Sadly, though, Harry and his older brother Prince William are no closer to speaking to each other. They did not meet during Harry's short stay in England, and the Duke ended up staying in a London hotel.

It does sound like Harry would be open to a reconciliation, however. "The Duke's primary reason to travel to the UK is to visit his father," a source with knowledge of the situation told the Daily Mail. "If the opportunity were to arise to see the Prince of Wales then the Duke would have gladly accepted it."

As has been the case on every one of Harry's recent visits to the UK — including for Charles' Coronation — the Duke travelled alone, with his wife and their two children staying at home in California. Even without having met with William, Harry will no doubt be glad to reunite with his family when he touches down in Los Angeles.

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Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.