Harry is trying to shed his royal skin – but he is a man who can't escape his past

The sight of Harry flying in, but unable to see his father will have saddened many. But, embarking on a ‘mini royal tour' in Nigeria isn't going to heal family rifts 

- Tessa Dunlop

Even hardened Sussex critics took a sharp intake of breath when they heard that the King would not meet Prince Harry last week. The Duke fleetingly arrived in London to headline at an Invictus 10th anniversary celebration in St Paul’s Cathedral, but despite the religious framework, he was not greeted as the prodigal son by his father.

Quite the reverse. 2.6 miles away (yes many measured the distance) the King was otherwise engaged, welcoming crowds in a top hat at his first Buckingham Garden Party of the season. The sun shone, but domestic clouds stubbornly persisted.

In the bible, the prodigal son’s father saw his boy and “had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” No one was expecting an equivalent public display of affection from the King, for many, a smidgeon of that “compassion” would have been enough.

After all, Charles is the Defender of the Faith. Have Harry’s transgressions really been so sinful that redemption, at least of a paternal sort, is not possible?

And on an even more basic level, the public simply felt it was just a little sad that a son flying in from abroad wasn’t able to connect with an elderly father being treated for cancer. The optics were not reassuring. Apparently “other priorities” on the King’s part got in the way of a redemptive gesture. Not even a cup of English tea was in the offing.

Naturally, royal acolytes pushed back. They were not going to let a mealy-mouthed statement from the Sussex’s new PR machine about a “busy” king reframe their beleaguered monarch in a dim, unloving light. Apparently, Harry’s team made too many demands, and there were jitters regarding Harry and Meghan’s high-profile trip to Nigeria. Understandably, trust remains an issue.