Prince Harry appears without Duchess for seventh time in seven days

Duke of Sussex is attending WellChild Awards, but is not expected to meet King or Prince of Wales during UK visit

Prince Harry is back in London making his seventh solo appearance in as many days before heading off to southern Africa.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, is attending the WellChild Awards, presenting an award and delivering a speech at the annual ceremony, which honours seriously ill children.
His whirlwind return to the UK falls in the middle of a hectic schedule in which he is crisscrossing the globe, without his wife, to promote his own charitable interests.
He was not expected to meet with his father, the King, who is in Scotland, or his brother, the Prince of Wales.
The Duke’s appearance at the WellChild Awards – an annual event that he has long made a point of attending – comes hot on the heels of five high-profile speeches in New York last week on behalf of his various charities, as well as a star turn in a skit on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon in the US.
He then flew back to California to be reunited with the Duchess of Sussex and their two children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, before flying to London this weekend.
As his charitable push continues, he will then head to southern Africa, where he will visit Lesotho 20 years after his first visit, made during his gap year, for a series of engagements to promote Sentebale, the charity he founded in 2006.
At an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last week, he spoke in both English and Sesotho, a language of Lesotho, as he described the country as “a home away from home”.
He said the tiny landlocked nation, and its Royal family, had been “a pillar of strength” for him personally over the last 20 years and had welcomed him “with open arms and such kindness.”
The Duke is currently required to give 30 days’ notice of his travel plans to the UK so each visit can be assessed on its merits.
He has again opted not to stay at a royal residence in London, having previously raised concerns about his security when coming and going from such high profile locations.
His lack of guaranteed police protection remains a bone of contention after he lost a High Court challenge earlier this year over his right to state-funded security.
The Duke’s appeal against the ruling will be heard next April, but he remains insistent that it is too dangerous to bring his wife or children, fearing a “knife or acid” attack.
The Duke is last thought to have seen his father in February, when he flew from the US for a brief visit shortly after it was revealed that the King had been diagnosed with cancer.
The pair spent no more than around 40 minutes together at Clarence House.
They did not meet when the Duke returned to London in May, despite the fact that he was invited to stay at Buckingham Palace, or again when he returned for the funeral of his uncle Lord Fellowes in August, when he stayed with Earl Spencer, his late mother’s brother, at the ancestral home of Althorp in Northamptonshire.
The Duke has been patron of WellChild, which supports sick children and their families, since 2007 and will tonight present the award for Inspirational Child (aged 4-6).
The Duke wrote in his memoir, Spare, that the event was “always gutting”, the children so brave and their parents so proud but tortured.
In 2019, he choked up as he attempted to deliver his speech, later revealing that “gratitude and sympathy converged” after he caught sight of his wife in the front row and thought of their son, Prince Archie, who was a baby at the time.