Prince Harry is back in the U.K., beginning his trip with a private moment at St. George’s Chapel and continuing with engagements tied to his patronage.
On September 8, 2025, in the early hours of Sunday morning, Prince Harry was spotted making a secretive solo pilgrimage to St. George’s Chapel, the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth II, marking exactly three years since her death.
But while the Duke of Sussex returned to the place where his grandmother is buried, he left his father, King Charles, waiting in the shadows. There was no reunion, no handshake, no royal olive branch, only a wreath of flowers and a silence that says more than words ever could.
Prince Harry with King Charles III at the World Premiere of Netflix’s Our Planet at the Natural History Museum, Kensington on April 4, 2019 | Source: Getty Images
A spokesperson confirmed the visit, saying Harry paid his respects in private on the anniversary of the Queen’s death at Balmoral Castle in 2022. She was 96.
After a grand state funeral watched around the world, Her Majesty was laid to rest in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, alongside her beloved Prince Philip, her parents, and her sister Princess Margaret.
Harry’s visit was quiet, but deeply symbolic — a return to the very chapel where he married Meghan Markle in 2018, back when he was still a working royal, still part of the family fold.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex leave from the West Door of St George’s Chapel on May 19, 2018 | Source: Getty Images
This trip to the U.K. wasn’t just about personal mourning. Prince Harry is also attending the WellChild Awards, a heartfelt cause he’s supported since 2007.
He is expected to give a speech and present an award during the event, which honors seriously ill children and the families and professionals who support them.
But noticeably absent? Meghan. Their children. And once again, his father.
In fact, Harry’s last-minute trip is strikingly similar to 2022, when he and Meghan were due to attend the same WellChild ceremony — only to have plans upended when doctors expressed concerns about the Queen’s health. Harry raced to Scotland, but arrived too late.
Prince Harry outside Westminster Abbey in London on September 19, 2022 | Source: Getty Images
Since the King’s shocking cancer diagnosis earlier this year, many have wondered whether the rift between father and son could finally begin to heal.
But so far, nothing.
Though Harry returned to London twice in 2024 — once for the Invictus Games’ 10th anniversary and again for the WellChild Awards — he and King Charles did not meet either time.
And now, even on the anniversary of the Queen’s death, as Harry walks the very grounds his father now reigns over, there’s still no official word of a meeting.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex departs after attending a Court of Appeal hearing regarding his security at the Royal Courts of Justice on April 8, 2025, in London, England. | Source: Getty Images
Prince Harry’s latest trip shows a man caught between two worlds, one of deep personal devotion and one of unhealed family wounds.
He came to lay flowers. He came to honor the Queen. But whether he came hoping for more — a moment with his father, a flicker of reconciliation — remains locked behind palace doors.
Advertisement
