The King left the capital without having seen his son, who had earlier spent approximately two hours giving evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London
King Charles III has left London without meeting with Prince Harry on the day his youngest son made an emotional appearance from the court – just over two miles away from where he was conducting royal duties.
The King attended a reception supporting Indonesian conservation efforts at Lancaster House, a London mansion just next door to his Clarence House residence early this morning while Harry particpated in legal action against Daily Mail publishers Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) meant the father and son were separated by just 2.3 miles during Harry’s flying visit to the UK.
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The King was joined by the president of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, with the two pictured smiling together broadly at an audience afterwards at nearby St James’s Palace. Charles, who was seen sheltering under his own large black umbrella as he departed, joked about the rainy downpours in the capital as he shook hands with the president.
He prompted laughter as he remarked to the Indonesian leader: “Sorry about the weather.” Charles and the president enjoyed a cup of tea as they met representatives and members of the Peusangan Elephant Conservation Initiative and other bodies in the Grand Hall.
The King, who was away in Scotland at the start of the week when Harry arrived back in the UK, conducted his engagements just two miles from where his son began giving evidence in person in his legal battle against the publisher of the Mail. After around two hours in the witness box, Harry, on the verge of tears with his voice cracking, said during the trial against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL): “They continue to come after me, they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery.”
The duke was reunited with Charles for the first time in 19 months on his last visit to the UK in September, and the two, who have had a troubled relationship, had afternoon tea at Clarence House, with the duke describing his father as “great”.
The Queen, Harry’s stepmother, was meanwhile away carrying out engagements in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where she joined former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner to mark the 30th anniversary of the cancer support charity Maggie’s.
Harry, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley are all bringing legal action against ANL over allegations of unlawful information gathering.
This includes claims that information for articles was obtained by carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as phone tapping and “blagging” private records. ANL has strongly denied wrongdoing and is defending the claims. Charles and Harry, 41, are now said to be in regular contact despite their past difficulties.
