Prince Harry said Friday that he immediately arranged to go to London after his father, King Charles III, called to tell him he had cancer.
“I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could,” Harry told the news program “Good Morning America.” “I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go see and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.”
Harry arrived from California less than 48 hours after Buckingham Palace announced on Feb. 5 that the king had cancer and had begun treatment.
The visit between the monarch and his younger son at Clarence House was relatively brief, as Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, were seen leaving about an hour later.
The palace has not revealed the type of cancer the 75-year-old king has, saying only that it was discovered during a treatment for an enlarged prostate but isn’t prostate cancer.
The Duke of Sussex wouldn’t reveal any details about his father’s prognosis. “That stays between me and him,” he said.
Harry has had a troubled relationship with his family since he quit royal duties in 2020 and moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Meghan, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. He showed up alone for his father’s coronation in May but left as soon as the ceremony ended to return to California for his son’s birthday.
Asked if the illness could help reunify his family, Harry, speaking at an Invictus Games event near Vancouver, said, “Yeah, I’m sure.” He said he has witnessed that type of galvanizing effect among the wounded service members who compete in the games the prince founded in 2014.
“Throughout all these families, I see it on a day to day basis,” he said. “You know, again, the strength of the family unit coming together.”
King Charles’s cancer diagnosis heaps more pressure on the British monarchy, which is still evolving after the 70-year reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The Associated Press