Prince Harry has returned to the UK to attend a special ceremony to commemorate 10 years since he first launched the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for injured servicemen and veterans. But despite making the trip from the USA, he won’t be seeing any members of his family during his trip to London.

No senior members of the royal family were in attendance at the ceremony, with King Charles spending the day in meetings at Buckingham Palace and hosting the first garden party of the season. Meanwhile, Prince William was busy hosting an investiture at Windsor Castle and Harry’s aunt Princess Anne is in Canada for a series of engagements with the country’s navy.

A rift has broken out between Harry and his wife Meghan Markle and his father, the King, brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton since Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals in January 2020 and moved to the United States. It only deepened with the release of Harry’s memoir Spare and the couple’s Netflix documentary.

Royal fans had hoped that the sad news of King Charles and Kate’s cancer diagnoses would pull the family back together, but it seems that is not the case after the King granted his son just 45 minutes to speak when he rushed to see him after the news of his diagnosis in February.

And it has now been revealed that he will not see him at all on his current trip. A statement from Prince Harry’s press office reads, “In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the Duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme.

“The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”

An insider has now discussed more about the reason behind King Charles’ decision to not see his son during his current trip to the UK.

A source tells Closer, “The King still needs plenty of rest and has been advised not to overexert himself given his condition. But he was determined to go back to royal duty and represent the monarchy to the best of his ability whilst also following the advice of his medical team. His doctors want him to continue with his treatment as the top priority whilst getting as much rest and relaxation as he possible can during those precious moments of down time. 

“It’s quite a balancing act, given that he is still very much in charge and in constant consultation with aides and fellow senior royals about day-to-day matters, which can be time consuming and complex. So he made the decision that he would regrettably not be available to meet with Harry during this particular period.”

However, it seems that the news of the King not being able to see Harry is not going to be cause for another family feud.

“The message was conveyed back [to Harry] politely and with some regret, since the last thing he would want is to disappoint or let down his son,” the source continued. “And to be fair to Harry, he took the news well and expressed that he fully understood and respected his father’s decision. Of course he expressed his disappointment, too, and that it’s greatest hope the King will be able to make time for him before too long, once his schedule calms down.”

And although it seems there are no hard feelings between the monarch and his son, the source adds that other members of the Royal family are relieved that he has come to the decision.

“Queen Camilla, Prince William and others in the King’s circle are pleased he made this decision. They try to shield His Majesty from stress and discourage him from any potential conflict or confrontation whenever they can, since it’s the last thing he needs given everything he’s still going through. 

“Harry may still be his blood son but there’s no disputing the fact that he’s caused the family endless drama, heartache and embarrassment over the past few years – not least with his blistering attacks on Queen Camilla, Princess Kate and the monarchy as a whole through his various tell-alls. So the consensus inside Buckingham Palace is that a one-on-one between Harry and his father would only have raised the King’s blood pressure and caused unwanted anxiety.”

Harry’s decision to announce that he would not be seeing is family seems in line with previous form of stories about him appearing in the press, but the source says he has revealed the news to stop people from accusing him of being angry about the “snub”.

The source says, “Harry’s decision to release the news was his way of trying to get ahead of the media in terms of controlling the narrative. He knows the naysayers will still try to spin it as him being snubbed, and deep down there’s no way he could look at the scenario in any other way – especially as he had been pushing so hard for a meeting over the past several weeks if not months. 

“Publicly he’s taking it on the chin and saying he fully understands, that his own schedule is packed too with Invictus and then the trip straight to Africa right afterwards with Meghan. But privately it’s a very sobering and heartbreaking pill to swallow, the fact he’s essentially been denied an audience with his sick father, not even a brief opportunity to see him in person and give him a hug.”

The source also claims that Harry was “desperately hoping “to use this trip to make amends with his father. 

“He had so much he wanted to say, too. But now he has to wait and suck up this decision whether he likes it or not.”