Earlier this month, when Prince Harry returned home to the U.K. for a brief visit, his one-on-one meeting on Sept. 10 with his long-estranged father, King Charles, dominated royal headlines. It turns out, however, that the King wasn't the only member of the royal family Harry met with during his four-day trip to his home country.
According to People, a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex has confirmed that, in addition to his widely-reported reunion with his father, Harry also made time to meet with Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent. Harry's meeting with Edward took place at Kensington Palace, where Harry offered his condolences to the Duke following the death of his wife, Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, who died on Sept. 4 at the age of 92.
Harry took the opportunity to pay his respects privately and in-person ahead of the Duchess of Kent's Sept. 16 funeral, which Harry was unable to attend due to prior commitments for his Invictus Games Foundation in Ukraine.
Even though he couldn't attend the funeral, Harry "loved catching up with family, friends and colleagues," a source close to the royal told Hello!, which was the first outlet to report the news of his low-key meeting with Prince Edward.
The source added that Harry's "only regret was not being able to stay longer and see more people," explaining that his meetings in Ukraine had been scheduled long before the Duchess of Kent's passing and that it was important to Harry to "be there in person to see the Invictus Games Foundation's growing work and the progress at Superhumans."
"The whole trip felt like a real success for everyone involved," the source added. "His passion for his patronages and the causes he cares about hasn’t dimmed one bit—he’s already buzzing to get back and do more."
According to People, Harry was met with praise for his passionate work with his patronages in the U.K. during his recent trip, as well, including an appearance at the WellChild Awards in London on Sept. 8 and a meeting with young activists at the Community Recording Studio (CRS) in Nottingham.
Although Harry is no longer a working royal (and reportedly has no intentions of moving to become one again, even if he's able to reconcile fully with his estranged family members), CRS’s Trevor Rose doesn't think "anything major has changed" and that the Duke of Sussex is "still the same person" when it comes to his charitable work.
"To be honest, he's Harry. It's Harry all day," Rose said. "He still wants to know what we're about, what's happening and if something just doesn't feel like the right balance, he cares — and that's the main thing."
This was evident in Harry's visit to CRS, where he laughed and chatted with young activists at the studio.
“He cares about what it is that we are, what we're trying to do," Rose added. "He won't just walk in, take a picture, or sit down and do an event and go home. He wants to ask questions. He wants to feel the energy.“
