Prince Harry has arrived at St Paul's Cathedral in central London without his wife Meghan Markle to mark the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games.
However, several major members of the royal family are not present, including the king. Prince William, Princess Kate or any of the other senior royals, including Harry's aunts and uncles. A spokesman for the duke said the king would not meet his son at any time Prince Harry's visit to Britain, because of the monarch's “full programme”.
Ten years ago, when the Games were launched, the then Prince Charles, his wife Camilla and Prince William were all present.
But on this occasion, none of the senior royals are celebrating with the Duke of Sussex. The only royal guests of note are Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, and Louis Spencer, Prince Harry's cousin. Actor Damian Lewis will recite Invictus's poem.
Charles and Harry last met shortly after the king announced his cancer diagnosis in February and his son, who now lives with his family in California, rushed from America to visit his father.
A spokesman for the Duke said: “In response to many questions and ongoing speculation about whether or not the Duke will meet his father this week while in Britain, this will unfortunately not be possible due to the full schedule of His Majesty.
“The Duke obviously understands his father's diary with commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
Harry spent Tuesday in the capital to attend a summit reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, which hosts sporting events for wounded, ill or injured veterans or serving service members to aid their recovery.
He told delegates at the meeting, held at the headquarters of the Honorable Artillery Company on the edge of the City of London: “Sometimes… you look back and say, 'Look what we've done'.
“But given the state of the world, there's so much more to do and I think there's a lot of uncertainty – but what we've created is a global community.”
According to ITV royal editor Chris Ship, Meghan Markle avoids Blighty because of its public statements about members of the royal family.
The last time Harry and Meghan were seen at St Paul's was during the Platinum Jubliee in 2022, where the pair were both cheered and booed by onlookers.