Hannah McKay/File Photo/Reuters
Prince Harry was heading back to Los Angeles Wednesday, meaning he will have taken a 11,000 mile round trip to spend just half an hour with his tired father King Charles and sleep in a hotel, in what some sources said looked like a “partial snub.”
However, other voices said that for Harry to be given a meeting with the king at all at such short notice was an encouraging sign that bridges were being built, and palace insiders have briefed U.K. media that Charles, presently undergoing treatment for cancer, appreciated his son’s gesture.
One former courtier told The Daily Beast: “He did get to meet the king which is something, but they hardly rolled out the red carpet for him. If circumstances were different, one might have expected him to be offered a bed either at Clarence House [the king’s London home] or at Sandringham. I am sure the king was delighted to see him but I think what you are seeing is that great care being taken to insulate the king and queen from Harry.”