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London: Prince Harry has told American breakfast TV he hopes his father’s cancer diagnosis would help bring the royals together after years of personal feuding following his decision to quit the family.
In his first public comments since the King postponed all public duties, the Duke of Sussex told Good Morning America on Friday that he was grateful to have been able to fly home to visit his father after Buckingham Palace last week announced the 75-year-old had cancer.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attending an Invictus Games training camp, in Whistler, British Columbia.Credit: The Canadian Press via AP
Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, visited without his immediate family, leaving less than 24 hours after the King’s had personally called him to tell him about his health.
“Look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that,” he said.
Asked whether an illness in the family could have a “reunifying effect”, the duke said: “Absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these [Invictus] families I see it on a day-to-day basis, the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any sickness, brings families together.”
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave to well-wishers after attending a Sunday church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham.Credit: PA
He is thought to have spent around 45 minutes at Clarence House with his father – the first face-to-face meeting since the release of his controversial memoir Spare and Netflix series which were both highly critical of the institution and more personally, his father and brother, Prince William – who he did not meet with last week.
Charles was seen returning to London from his rural residence in Sandringham with the Queen on Tuesday as he prepared to undergo further treatment following his cancer diagnosis. The palace revealed he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer after treatment of an enlarged prostate at the private London hospital, The London Clinic.
In 2020, Harry moved to the US with his wife after they stepped back as senior royals. It followed with a series of bombshell interviews which accused both the institution and British press of systemic racism and unconscious bias.