Prince Harry returns to mark 10 years of Invictus – but he won't see the King

Prince Harry is in London to celebrate a decade of the Invictus Games, but a visit to his father, the King, will not be on the agenda.

Today's Invictus thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral will be the "first major event Harry has attended in Britain for some time", said Sky News. It is also the first time he has been back to the country since his "rushed visit to see the King in February after the monarch's cancer diagnosis". 

But he will not be seeing his father this week "due to His Majesty's full programme", said a spokesperson for Prince Harry. The Duke was said to be "understanding of his father's diary" and "hopes to see him soon".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

At around the same time as the St Paul's service and "just round the corner (or a mere five stops on the District Line)", said Kevin Maher in The Times, King Charles is expected to attend the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the year. "It's almost as if there was something other than practicalities keeping them apart."

The apparent snub represents the "second blow in the space of 24 hours" for the Duke, after Buckingham Palace announced that Prince William is to officially become colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps, the home of "Harry's old regiment", said The Independent. The honour would have likely passed to Prince Harry had he remained a working royal.

The Prince of Wales and other senior royals were reportedly invited to the service at St Paul's, but they are not expected to attend. Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games a decade ago as a Paralympics-style sporting event for military personnel and veterans.

With plans underway for the first winter hybrid Invictus at Vancouver Whistler next year, Prince Harry said the team behind the games was "eager to celebrate the Invictus Spirit once again".