KING Charles ruled out a face-to-face meeting with Harry — saying he was too busy.
Hours later, in a second snub, the King revealed eldest son William will take charge of Harry’s former helicopter regiment next week.
Harry, 39, was keen to see his dad after jetting from California but his spokesman said: “It unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme.”
Harry flew in for events marking ten years of his Invictus Games, while the King greeted Fiji’s Prime Minister at Buckingham Palace.
Two hours later, the King revealed that next Monday he will be at a ceremony to confirm William, 41, as Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps — Harry’s former regiment.
The event will take place in front of an Apache — the type of helicopter Harry flew when serving in Afghanistan.
William, who flew with the Air Ambulance, will also take to the skies in the chopper.
A source told The Sun: “Timing is everything.”
Sources claim Harry made multiple attempts to arrange a meeting with his dad before flying 5,000 miles for three days in the UK.
At 9.30am, Charles, 75, was photographed leaving Windsor Castle in the State Bentley and seen reading government papers in the back seat.
Around the same time, Harry touched down without Meghan or their two children.
He was driven to the Honourable Artillery Company HQ in Barbican for an Invictus Games discussion. He was pictured smiling as he left there just after 6pm.
Earlier in the day the King spoke to Fiji’s Sitiveni Rabuka at the Palace.
At 2pm, the Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced Harry would not meet his father.
The spokesman said: “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.”
The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon
Spokesman
Buckingham Palace declined to comment or respond.
Soon after, the Palace announced the date for William to take charge of the Army Air Corps, to which Harry was attached for his second tour of Afghanistan until 2014.
William’s role had been announced in August.
Yesterday it was confirmed the ceremony will take place next Monday at the Army Aviation Centre in Middle Wallop, Hants.
The King will walk to the control tower and officially pass the role of Colonel-in-Chief, which he held for 31 years, to William.
Harry & the King can't play happy families with such huge public attention, says The Sun's Matt Wilkinson
By Matt Wilkinson, Royal Editor
Prince Harry is in London but he won’t meet his father The King.
The Duke of Sussex arrived from LA alone without Meghan or their children for a busy diary of events marking 10 years of his Invictus Games.
Before setting off from California it is understood Harry was said to have been “keen’ to see the King for only the second time since his cancer diagnosis.
It is rather telling that confirmation there will be no meeting has come from the Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex rather than Buckingham Palace.
His team say “it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program”.
They add: “The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”
Now, the word that jumps out is “priorities”.
The King, we understand, is busy as he returns to public duty.
For instance, on Tuesday while Harry was in London the King was carrying out his constitutional duty and meeting the Prime Minister of Fiji at the palace.
He is also set to host a palace garden party and weekly audience with the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
And Harry’s diary is packed full for three days with Invictus. However, they will be at times just two miles apart and risk even driving past each other on London’s roads.
Some observers may see this as “sad” that father and son cannot find time.
Others may say that it’s understandable as both have work commitments and “priorities”.
But maybe there has just been too much water under the bridge for father and son to play happy families amid such huge public attention.
The Prince of Wales will then receive a briefing on the Corps’ work from the Colonel Commandant, Lt-Gen Sir Nicholas Borton.
‘Private meetings’
William will view a training drill and take controls of the Apache for a flight.
Today, Charles and Harry will be two miles apart as the Duke attends an Invictus Games celebration at St Paul’s Cathedral from 5pm.
Charles is expected to host the first Garden Party of the year at Buckingham Palace from 4pm.
He also has his weekly audience with PM Rishi Sunak.
The pair’s diaries also fail to align tomorrow when Harry has “private meetings” and the King is understood to have an engagement in Windsor.
At the end of the week Harry, who is said to be staying in a hotel, will be joined by wife Meghan for a trip to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, William will be in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly on Thursday and Friday.
Harry passed his Army Air Corps grading and Pilot’s Selection Board interview in December 2008 to begin pilot training in January 2009.
On his first tour of Afghanistan in 2008 he called in air strikes on Taliban positions.
He later qualified as an Apache commander in 2012 after three years of training.
Then he spent a five-month tour in Afghanistan where he piloted an Apache.
Timing is everything
Insider
Harry wrote glowingly about the ’copter in his memoir Spare, saying: “What a privilege, I thought, to experience this kind of raw power, and to put it to work for our side.”
But he sparked outrage when he revealed he had killed 25 enemy fighters, writing: “I didn’t think of those 25 as people.
“They were chess pieces removed from the board.
“Bad people eliminated before they could kill good people.”
In January, Harry was honoured in Los Angeles in the 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards alongside John Travolta.
William served in the Army as a Platoon Commander in The Blues and Royals, before completing flying training in the Royal Air Force.
He spent three years as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot in Anglesey, North Wales, before working as an Air Ambulance pilot in East Anglia for two years.
He has remained in the cockpit to keep his piloting hours up to retain his licence.
