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Prince Harry’s visit to England was a quick one, and the reason reportedly had to do with another British royal. Not King Charles III or even Prince William. Rather the Duke of Sussex’s stepmother, Queen Camilla, reportedly may be why Harry spent limited time with his father.

Camilla may have been the reason for Harry’s short visit with King Charles 

“The queen was with the king,” Robert Jobson, a royal author, told The Sun. “Let’s be honest — he [Harry] wasn’t too complimentary about Queen Camilla in his book, Spare. He wasn’t very complimentary about her on Netflix [Harry & Meghan]. They don’t get on.” 

In his January 2023 memoir, Harry described Camilla as “dangerous” and a villain.” At one point, he claimed she “sacrificed him” to improve her public image. 

Not to mention the lack of “contact” between Harry and King Charles in recent years. “Second, there’s not been a lot of contact. That brings its own level of complexity and drama, which he [the king] doesn’t need at the moment,” Jobson said. 

Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, reportedly had a phone conversation with King Charles in November 2023 to wish the monarch a happy birthday. More recently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were said to have sent messages of support to both the king and Kate Middleton amid their January 2024 hospitalizations.

Charles and Camilla’s plans were changed for Harry’s visit 

Perhaps adding to any tension between the father, son, and stepmother is what happened to get Harry and King Charles in the same room with each other. The king reportedly delayed a helicopter flight to Sandringham, his country estate in Norfolk, England, to see Harry. 

“The royals do stick to a pretty military clock,” Jobson said. “You have to get the helicopter pilot there, all these things. So, his plans had to be changed.” 

“The one thing the king doesn’t like is changing his plans,” he added, noting the 75-year-old gave Harry “long enough for a kiss and a hug and wished him all the best.”

Meanwhile, Harry flying to England so soon after Buckingham Palace announced the king’s cancer diagnosis could’ve played a role. 

“This is one of the reasons Charles probably didn’t want all the drama,” Jobson said. “The fact of Harry flying over does give the suggestion that his condition may be a lot worse than it actually may well be. I think a lot of people will be sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, well, it must be bad because he’s on the plane.’”

Harry didn’t want Camilla there while discussing the cancer diagnosis with King Charles

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According to a friend of Camilla’s, journalist Petronella Wyatt, Harry didn’t want to be “in the same room” as the queen when discussing the king’s health. 

“Harry, I hear, preferred not to be in the same room with his stepmother when he spoke to the King about his cancer diagnosis,” she told The Telegraph

Meanwhile, Jobson claimed another possibility for the short visit likely had to do with the sheer lack of topics that wouldn’t cause a spike in the king’s blood pressure. 

“You don’t want his blood pressure going up. The king’s not very well, whatever type of cancer it is, he’s undergoing treatment,” he said. “The best thing for him is to remain calm.” 

“After the initial kiss and hug, love you dad, hope you get better soon, what issues are going to get raised?. “Things that will get your blood pressure rising.” 

Since Harry’s visit to see his father, King Charles has continued with his cancer treatment.