Prince Harry landed in Los Angeles in the small hours of this morning after leaving his father’s coronation celebrations while they were in full swing, arriving back in time for the last few hours of his son Archie’s birthday.
The Duke of Sussex touched down at Los Angeles international airport at about 7.30pm local time (3.30am UK), according to PA Media, which reported that British Airways flight attendants had confirmed Harry was on the flight but said they were not permitted to discuss the details of his trip.
His family home in Montecito, California, is at least a two-hour drive from the airport. Prince Archie turned four on Saturday and is reported to have spent the day with his mother, the Duchess of Sussex, at their property near Santa Barbara. She declined an invitation to the coronation.
In a flying visit, Harry arrived in the UK on Friday and walked solo up the Westminster Abbey aisle on Saturday morning in dark morning suit and tie, his Afghanistan and jubilee medals pinned to his suit jacket, and a Royal Victorian Order star and neck decoration. He was seated between Princess Alexandra and Jack Brooksbank, the husband of Princess Eugenie, two rows behind his older brother, William, the Prince of Wales.
The seating arrangement meant the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Gloucester and James, Earl of Wessex, son of the king’s brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, were placed on the pew in front of him.
During the service, as the congregation paid homage to the king, Harry was seen, along with the other royals around him, speaking the words “God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the king live for ever.”
In January, Harry said of the strained relationships with his family: “I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back.”
He left the abbey almost as soon as the ceremony ended and walked alone into a waiting car, heading to the airport. He did not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the finale of the day as the Red Arrows soared overhead, with the palace confirming earlier that he had no formal role at the event.
Harry has clashed repeatedly and very publicly with his family, including making claims in his recent memoir, Spare, that he was physical attacked by William as their relationship fell apart over the younger prince’s marriage to Meghan Markle. He also accused the family of “a huge level of unconscious bias” and said it failed to appreciate the “race element” of the need to protect his mixed-race wife from press attacks.
• This article was amended on 8 May 2023 to clarify the reason that Prince Harry did not appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace was not because he left early but rather because he had no formal role at the event.
