Prince Harry is back in California after spending just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the United Kingdom to witness his father, King Charles’ coronation on Saturday.
Following the ceremony, he slipped out of Westminster Abbey – accompanied by a Metropolitan police escort and four outriders – with only the briefest of goodbyes and headed straight for Heathrow Airport.
He was back on the plane to California before his father and stepmother, the newly crowned queen, had even finished having their official portraits taken.
Harry’s British Airways flight from Heathrow direct to Los Angeles landed just before 6:30pm local time.
The idea was that he would be back in time for his four-year-old son Archie’s fourth birthday party, which was ‘low-key’, according to sources close to the Sussexes.
Prince Harry was back in California after spending just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the United Kingdom to witness his father, King Charles’ Coronation on Saturday. His flight is seen arriving
Prince Harry was picked up in a black SUV and whisked away to his Montecito home
Harry’s security drove his Range Rover an hour and a half to the uber-exclusive Private Suites hanger at LAX
The Duke of Sussex, 38, was pictured at London Heathrow beaming as he raced to board his flight while clutching his phone and some documents.
Prince Harry flashed a Hollywood-worthy smile at Heathrow today as he prepared to jet back to California after an awkward appearance at his father’s coronation
But despite getting a chauffeured ride from the airport in a black Range Rover SUV, it is doubtful he would have been back with his wife and children much before the kids’ bedtime.
Montecito in California, where the family live, is almost 100 miles away from Los Angeles and a good two-hour drive even at the best of times given the unpredictability of LA traffic.
For months, Harry had kept the British public – not to mention his own family – on tenterhooks with a cat and mouse guessing game over his attendance.
And in the end, it was truly a blink or you’ll miss it moment.
At the main event he was obscured by Princess Anne’s feathered plume from the cameras for most of the ceremony.
After it was all over, he headed straight for the airport and was pictured smiling broadly as he arrived at Heathrow’s Windsor suite before his flight, still in morning suit and sporting his medals.
Harry was whisked from the plane to his personal Range Rover which waited for him at LAX
The prince was picked up from the Private Suites area of the airport
Harry then faced a nearly two-hour drive north back to Montecito where he now lives
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex was earlier seen arriving at the Windsor Suite in a police convoy before leaving on a British Airways flight from LHR to LAX
Harry had long been expected to swiftly return to his wife Meghan Markle in Montecito so they could celebrate the birthday of their son Archie, who turned four on Saturday
Harry, 38, had not been expected to play any part in the coronation celebrations apart from his brief appearance at Westminster Abbey.
Sources tell the Daily Mail that there were no plans for him to join the procession, take part in the private family lunch or even appear in any of the official or unofficial photographs.
There was however a flurry of activity at Buckingham Palace when staff were told not to rule out the prince changing his mind and staying for lunch.
The prince was not seen once after it was said he flew in on a scheduled American Airlines flight to Heathrow on Friday morning while the rest of the family were undertaking multiple ‘Eve of Coronation’ duties in London.
On Saturday morning, he left Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor home he and Meghan once shared, almost certainly for the last time after his father’s decision to evict them, just before 9.30am in a BMW with blacked-out windows.
He entered Westminster Abbey alongside his non-working royal cousins – Zara Tindall, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Lurking at the back of the group, Harry could be seen chatting to Beatrice and her husband, Edo Mapelli Mozzi.
Moment the Duke of Sussex , 38, told Jack Brooksbank he would be ‘heading off’ as they took their seats inside Westminster Abbey, before saying the words ‘airport’, according to a professional lip reader
Prince Harry looks on at his brother Prince William in the front row during the coronation of their father King Charles III at Westminster Abbey
Harry pulls an awkward face as he takes his seat inside Westminster Abbey
Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, probably now the closest family members to Harry, turned round with big smiles.
Lip reader Jacquie Presser told MailOnline that when Harry indicated with his thumb, he said the words ‘tomorrow’ and ‘3.45pm’, while another lip reader picked up the word ‘airport.’
Harry was seated between Brooksbank and Princess Alexandra, the cousin of the late Queen.
They were joined in their row by Eugenie, Beatrice and her husband.
Also in the third row, at the other end from Harry, was the Duke of York, who stopped using the title His Royal Highness in an official capacity in January 2022. He wore his Order of the Garter robe.
In front of him was Princess Anne with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, along with the Duke of Kent.
The front row was reserved for the Prince of Wales – his brother, wife and their children, as well as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
Like the other non-working royals, Harry dressed in a morning suit with medals and the KCVO – Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order – given to him by his grandmother Queen Elizabeth round his neck.
But he was forced to make his way, somewhat awkwardly, down the Nave in the full view of the congregation on his own.
Before taking his seat, the prince turned twice, once to his right and then to his left and smiled at someone he recognized.
He did however pay homage to his father during the service, speaking the words: ‘God save King Charles, Long Live King Charles. May the King live forever.’
More than one source confirmed to the Mail that there had been ‘extensive discussions’ between London and California over the issue of Harry’s attendance.
Prince Harry walking down the aisle by himself inside Westminster Abbey
Prince Harry leaves Westminster Abbey after the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey
Harry walks alone upon leaving Westminster Abbey following the Coronation
Harry is all smiles as he departs the Coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey
One said: ‘Harry’s side was keen to find out, presumably because they wanted to rubber-stamp it, what the seating plan at the Abbey is.
‘There’s been extensive back and forth about who they [Harry and Meghan] would be sitting behind if they came. And who would be behind them.’
Harry was apparently quite preoccupied by this particular detail, the source said.
Another source added: ‘This is true. There have been a lot of questions on detail for the Abbey.’
As the historic ceremony drew to a close, Harry left through the Great West Door and, with the same police outriders accompanying him, headed back straight to Heathrow.
Eleven hours and 5,440 miles later, and a world away from the celebrations in London, he was back in the Golden State, ready to resume his ‘California dreamin” once more.
Sources close to the Sussexes said that Harry’s son Archie had a ‘private celebration’ at his home and enjoyed a lemon cake baked by the Duchess of Sussex using fruit from their garden.
A source told how Harry was ‘determined’ to get home in time to celebrate part of his son’s birthday, adding that he wanted to be back to ‘tuck Archie into bed’.
Asked if party guests included celebrity neighbours such as Oprah Winfrey, the source replied: ‘Some of their friends are celebrities, so yes, that’s likely. It will be a small, intimate gathering.’
Archie’s grandmother Doria Ragland was expected to be at Archie’s party, along with Meghan’s close friend, make-up mogul Victoria Jackson, 65.
Prince Harry was ‘determined’ to get home in time to celebrate his son Archie’s fourth birthday. Above: The Prince with his son
Harry is seen with his son, wife Meghan and her mother Doria Ragland at his first birthday in 2020
Meghan is said to have stayed at home to celebrate her son’s birthday because she ‘felt it would be inauthentic to do anything else’.
The source added: ‘She wanted to minimise the drama.’
Her estranged father Thomas Markle, 78, told the Mail on Sunday he believed ‘it was for the best’ that the Duchess stayed at home.
‘There are too many disagreements between Meghan, Harry and the Royals,’ he added.
Mr Markle stayed up all night to watch the ceremony on TV at his home in Rosarito, Mexico.
‘It was wonderful to watch the good people of Britain welcome their new King and Queen,’ he said.