Prince Harry meets with King Charles for first time since coronation last May

(LONDON) — Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has returned to the United Kingdom to see his father, King Charles III, who is battling cancer.

Harry, who now lives in California, was spotted Tuesday arriving at Clarence House, the London residence of Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla.

Buckingham Palace announced Monday that Charles, 75, has been diagnosed with cancer. The palace did not state what type of cancer Charles is battling but noted that he has started “a schedule of regular treatments.”

Shortly after his meeting with Harry, which took place privately, Charles was photographed in a car alongside Camilla as the two traveled to a helicopter to fly to Sandringham, the king’s estate in Norfolk, England.

Harry’s visit with Charles marked the first time he has seen his father since May, when he traveled to the U.K. to attend Charles’ coronation.

At the coronation, Harry sat in the congregation with other members of the royal family and did not play a role in the service at Westminster Abbey. He and his older brother, Prince William, the heir to the throne, did not appear to interact at all during the service.

While Harry is in the U.K., he and William do not have plans to see each other, a source told ABC News.

William’s wife Kate is recovering from a health battle of her own after undergoing what Kensington Palace described as a “planned abdominal surgery” last month. She was released from the hospital on Jan. 29, and is now recovering at the family’s home in Windsor, England, according to the palace.

A palace source told ABC News that Charles personally told both of his sons, Prince William and Harry, as well as his siblings, Princess Anne and Princes Edward and Andrew, about his cancer diagnosis.

On Tuesday, Harry traveled alone to Clarence House to see Charles, just as he did for the coronation, leaving behind his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their two children, Archie and Lilibet.

Harry, 39, has had a distant relationship with members of his family — most notably Charles and William — over the past four years, since he and Meghan stepped down from their senior royal roles.

Harry’s explosive memoir “Spare,” released last year, in which he described family tensions, appeared to further the distance between himself and his father and brother.

Harry told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan in an interview prior to the memoir’s release that he did not believe the details he shared in “Spare” could make things any worse with his family.

“I have thought about it long and hard,” Harry said. “And as far as I see it, the divide couldn’t be greater before this book.”

Neither Kensington Palace — the office of William and Kate, the Princess of Wales — nor Buckingham Palace, the office of Charles and Camilla, have commented publicly on the claims Harry made in “Spare.”

 

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