Prince Harry is ‘grateful’ he could ‘spend any time’ with King Charles

Prince Harry today said he was ‘grateful’ to have visited his father King Charles and hopes the cancer diagnosis can heal his rift with the royals , saying: ‘I love my family.’ The Duke of Sussex discussed the King’s health as he spoke publicly for the first time since Charles postponed all public-facing duties last week following the diagnosis. 

He told ABC’s Good Morning America about his visit to London without Meghan and their children, less than 24 hours after the announcement about Charles’s health. Asked by GMA presenter Will Reeve how the short trip back home was for him ’emotionally’, Harry replied: ‘Um, 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.’ Reeve, the son of late Superman actor Christopher Reeve who was paralysed in 1995, said: ‘I’ve also found in my own life that sort of an illness in the family can have a galvanising or a sort of reunifying effect for a family. Is that possible in this case?’

Speaking in Whistler, Canada, Harry replied: ‘Absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these families I see it on a day-to-day basis, again, the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any sickness brings families together.’ At the end of a week that has seen a series of announcements by the Sussexes. Harry is also due to talk about the possibility of becoming a U.S. citizen, his life with the Duchess of Sussex in California and the Invictus Games during the broadcast. The interview will be aired in full later today from 12.30pm UK time (7.30am Eastern). 

At the start of the show, GMA said the chat would be a ‘one on one with Prince Harry on his father King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, his relationship with the Royal Family now, how he is as a dad, and giving us access to the first ever Invictus winter games’. It later added: ‘Ahead, Prince Harry. What he says about his father’s health and their relationship now as he gives us a first look at the first ever Invictus winter games.’ The Duke, who lives in Montecito with his wife and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, flew to the UK last week to see the King. But there was no meeting with his brother, the Prince of Wales, after Harry spent around 45 minutes at Clarence House seeing their father. 

The interview comes after a week of announcements from Harry and his wife the Duchess of Sussex. Meghan signed a deal with Lemonada Media to record new podcast shows, and the company will distribute her previous series. Her Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes ran for just one series before a lucrative deal with Spotify ended in 2023. The couple also relaunched their Archewell website, the name of their foundation, rebranding it The Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

A film crew led by Mr Reeve has been following Harry and his wife Meghan Markle since they arrived in Canada on Tuesday for a countdown event to the Invictus Games in Whistler and Vancouver. In a tweet posted at 1.49am UK time (9pm Eastern Time last night), the GMA account wrote: ‘Exclusive: The all-new interview with Prince Harry on his life with Meghan, how his father King Charles is doing and his passion supporting wounded warriors.’ 

This was accompanied by a clip showing Harry speaking to Mr Reeve in Whistler and a photo of the King waving as he left The London Clinic on January 29. A voiceover said: ‘Tomorrow morning, a GMA exclusive, Prince Harry, the all-new interview on his life today with Meghan, how his father the King is doing and on his passion – supporting wounded warriors. Tomorrow on Good Morning America.’ The trip comes as they unveiled a rebrand on Monday with a glossy new Sussex.com website, which saw critics claim they were trying to cash in on royal connections. But last night, the Sussexes defiantly hit back by insisting: ‘We will not be broken’.

And the visit comes just over a week after Harry returned from a flying visit to London, where he met with his father for 45 minutes following his cancer diagnosis. He was seen two days later at an NFL awards ceremony in Las Vegas but was absent from the Super Bowl last Sunday, before he and Meghan relaunched their website. Meanwhile, Kensington Palace confirmed today that Harry’s brother Prince William will attend the Bafta Film Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall this Sunday evening. 

The Prince of Wales is the Bafta president and will watch the ceremony before meeting winners – and it comes ahead of a wider return to public duties as his wife Kate Middleton continues to recuperate following her abdominal surgery last month. Harry and Meghan have come under fire in recent days over their new Sussex.com website, in particular Meghan’s coat of arms – which critics claim is a breach of their promise to the late Queen Elizabeth II when they quit front-line royal duties.

Their decision to change their children Archie and Lilibet’s surnames to Sussex has also raised eyebrows among royal watchers. The moves have sparked a fresh round of criticism of the Duke and Duchess and renewed calls for the duo to have their titles removed. But a representative told the Mirror that the couple ‘will not be broken’. They added: ‘We’ve heard time and time again that certain opportunities are make or break for the couple. They’re still here. They’re still working and pursuing what they believe in, despite being constantly challenged and criticized. This couple will not be broken.’ 

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