Harry Keeps A Low Profile As He Lands Back In LA After Blinking, And You'll Miss His Performance

Prince Harry is back in California after spending just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the UK to witness his father King Charles’ coronation on Saturday.

After the ceremony, he – accompanied by a Metropolitan Police escort and four outriders – slipped out of Westminster Abbey with only a brief goodbye and made his way straight to Heathrow Airport.

He was back on the plane to California before his father and stepmother, the newly crowned queen, even finished their official portraits.

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.

Prince Harry was back in California after spending just 28 hours and 42 minutes in the UK to witness his father King Charles’ coronation on Saturday. You can see his flight arriving

Prince Harry was picked up in a black SUV and taken to his home in Montecito

Harry’s security drove an hour and a half in his Range Rover to LAX’s overly exclusive Private Suites hangar

The Duke of Sussex, 38, was pictured beaming at London Heathrow as he ran to board his plane while clutching his phone and some documents.

Prince Harry flashed a Hollywood-worthy smile at Heathrow today as he prepared to return to California after an awkward appearance at his father’s coronation

But although he was chauffeured from the airport in a black Range Rover SUV, it’s doubtful he would have returned with his wife and children well before the children’s bedtime.

Montecito, California, where the family lives, is nearly 100 miles from Los Angeles and a good two-hour drive, even at the best of times given the unpredictability of LA traffic.

For months he had kept the British public – let alone his own family – in suspense with a cat-and-mouse guessing game about his participation.

And in the end it really was a blink of an eye or you’ll miss it.

At the main event, he was obscured from the cameras by Princess Anne’s plume for most of the ceremony.

After it was all over he headed straight to the airport and was pictured with a big smile as he arrived at Heathrow’s Windsor suite before his flight, still in his morning suit and with his medals.

Harry was whisked off the plane to his personal Range Rover waiting for him at LAX

The prince was met in the private suites area of the airport

Harry then faced an almost two hour drive north back to Montecito where he now lives

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex was previously seen arriving at the Windsor Suite in a police convoy before boarding a British Airways flight from LHR to LAX

It had long been expected that Harry would soon be returning to his wife Meghan Markle in Montecito so they could celebrate the birthday of their son Archie, who turned four on Saturday

Harry, 38, was not expected to take part in the coronation celebrations apart from his brief appearance at Westminster Abbey.

Sources tell the Chron there were no plans for him to join the procession, attend the private family dinner or even appear in any of the official or unofficial photos.

The prince has not been seen once after it was said he flew in to Heathrow on a scheduled American Airlines flight on Friday morning while the rest of the family worked on several “Eve of Coronation” tasks in London.

He left Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor home he and Meghan once shared, almost certainly for the last time following his father’s decision to evict them, just before 9.30am on Saturday morning 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 end of the group, Harry could be seen conversing with Beatrice and her husband, Edo Mapelli Mozzi.

Wait a minute, the Duke of Sussex, 38, told Jack Brooksbank he was “leaving” as they took their seats at Westminster Abbey before saying the words “airport,” according to a professional lipreader

Prince Harry watches his brother Prince William from the front row during the coronation of their father King Charles III at Westminster Abbey

Harry looks embarrassed as he takes his seat in Westminster Abbey

Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, probably Harry’s closest family now, turned with big smiles.

Like the other non-working royals, Harry wore a morning suit with medals and the KCVO – Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order – gifted to him by Queen Elizabeth around his neck.

But he was forced to walk somewhat awkwardly down the nave, in full view of the congregation, alone.

The prince turned twice, once to the right and then to the left, and smiled at someone he knew.

But he quietly took his place three rows forward in the south lantern.

The front row was reserved for the Prince of Wales – his brother, wife and children, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

As the historic ceremony drew to a close, Harry exited the building through the Great West Door and, escorted by the same police officers, made his way back straight to Heathrow.

11 hours and 5,440 miles later and worlds away from the celebrations in London, he was back in the Golden State ready to continue his “California Dreamin” once more.