Prince Henry announced on Friday, February 16, that he was “grateful” to be able to fly to the United Kingdom to visit his father, King Charles III, following his cancer diagnosis. “I love my family,” he said on television. It is the first time the 39-year-old Duke of Sussex has spoken publicly about the 75-year-old monarch's health since he postponed his public duties to begin treatment for his illness. He did so in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, in which he discussed his brief visit to London, unaccompanied by his wife Meghan Markle or his children, 24 hours after Buckingham Palace announced its diagnosis of the royal disease on February 5 . “How did you find out?” the interviewer asks. “I talk to him,” reveals Enrique. He then asks her what her further reaction would be. “I got on a plane and drove to him as quickly as I could,” he admits.
“I'm grateful that I was able to get on a plane and visit him and spend time with him,” he replies to the moderator when he asks him what this visit meant to him on an emotional level. Enrique, who has been living in California with Meghan Markle since 2020, flew to London for about ten hours to visit his father, which ended up being a quick half-hour meeting at Clarence House. It was their first formal in-person meeting since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September 2022. The next day, the monarch's youngest son took a plane back to Los Angeles, a round-trip journey of nearly 9,000 kilometers and fuel costs that would give you goosebumps the public space provided.
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The interviewer in Henry of England's new television appearance is Will Reeve, son of the late Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who suffered an accident in 1995 in which he lost all mobility in his body. “I have also discovered in my own life that an illness in the family can have a unifying effect. Is that possible in this case?” he suggests to the prince. “Absolutely. Yes I am sure. Every day I see in many families the strength of the family unit coming together. I believe that every illness unites families,” he admits. These statements open a window to a possible reconciliation with his older brother, Prince William, with whom he has been estranged for years. In fact, Enrique didn't see him during his trip to London.
A film crew led by Reeve has been following Harry and Meghan since they flew to Canada on Tuesday for a countdown event to the Invictus Games in Whistler and Vancouver. The full interview has yet to air (it will air this afternoon), announcing that he will also discuss his life with Meghan and the Invictus Games. The conversation with Reeve comes in the middle of a week of news for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which has also seen them come under sharp criticism from defenders of the British royal family. Last Monday they launched a new website (Sussex.com) where they use their coat of arms as dukes, which did not go unnoticed after they decided to no longer be active members of the British royal family. Unique in 2020. Nor the decision not to mention the Windsors in their respective biographies, nor the decision to change the surnames of their children Archie and Lilibet to Sussex. Last Wednesday, Meghan Markle also announced the launch of a new podcast for the Lemonade Media platform, promising to “make life less stinky” with shows about sex, psychology and LGTBI issues.