PRINCE HARRY only heard his father was in hospital with side effects from his cancer treatment at the same time as the rest of the world – when the news broke on Thursday evening.
Which just about sums up how isolated and lonely the Duke of Sussex has become, as Monday marks the fifth anniversary of Megxit.
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Finding out about the King’s hospital visit from the news sums up how isolated and lonely Prince Harry has become, as Monday marks the fifth anniversary of MegxitCredit: Splash
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Harry and Meghan with the Royal Family, but he is now almost completely cut off from his relativesCredit: AFP
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Harry looking glum with Meghan at the Invictus Games, Vancouver, Canada, in FebruaryCredit: Getty
We can reveal that Harry — who 13 months ago was granted only half an hour of his dad’s time after jetting back to see him when his cancer was first announced — has barely spoken to his family in years.
As he grows increasingly alone in California while Meghan launches a series of glitzy, heavily-promoted solo projects, an insider told The Sun: “First he was a spare to William, now he’s increasingly looking like a spare to Meghan — and it’s not a great look.”
Even his cousin Princess Eugenie — his last remaining royal ally — has been cast out by the paranoid prince.
Insiders say lonely Harry, 40, rarely leaves the couple’s mansion in Montecito, and while Meghan strides forward with her lifestyle and podcast projects, he has no plans for any new filming with Netflix.
The Sun understands he was not told about his father’s hospital admission because the Palace did not want to cause unnecessary alarm by contacting Harry 5,000 miles away.
Heroes’ welcome
It’s a far cry from the days when the party-loving Duke of Sussex was surrounded by friends and family — and whose heavy workload included the Invictus Games, forces’ charity Walking With The Wounded, landmine clearance organisation The HALO Trust and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
He misses his family terribly, but no one is speaking to him any more. He just wants to go for a beer with the guys, but his only friends are just Meghan’s friends’ husbands.
Source close to Harry
There was also the mental health awareness campaign Heads Together, which Harry founded to great fanfare alongside his brother William and sister-in-law Catherine.
Now so much of that has vanished — leaving the forlorn prince as a party of one.
A friend said: “He misses his family terribly, but no one is speaking to him any more.
“He just wants to go for a beer with the guys, but his only friends are just the husbands of Meghan’s friends.”
It is not that long since Meghan and Harry seemed to have the world at their feet, bolstered by a roster of celebrity pals and a heroes’ welcome in the US for the pair, who had been married for just two years.
Then five years ago, determined to carry out their own kind of “service”, he and Meghan embarked on Megxit, stepping back from royal duties.
Harry gave up his military titles, his status as working royal and any income from the Sovereign Grant.
But things have not been plain sailing since then — and just this week Harry stepped down from his HIV and Aids charity Sentebale amid accusations of bullying and racism.
The charity, set up in memory of his mother Princess Diana, was one of the remaining legacies from his time as a working royal.
But he says he won’t return to the UK with Meghan and their two young children unless he wins his High Court fight for 24-hour armed security, which was removed when he quit as working royal.
And while it is believed Harry is still in touch with a few long-standing mates from the UK, many have abandoned him after his attacks on the Royal Family.
His previously close relationship with Eugenie has also faltered in recent years.
Harry and Meghan had even bought an investment property in Portugal near Eugenie and her husband Jack’s, and holidayed there in 2023.
But it is understood the friendship foundered after she was photographed last April with Piers Morgan — a strong critic of Harry and Meghan.
A friend said: “A dim view was taken of this, as Piers has clashed with Meghan and Harry in the past.
“Eugenie has been supportive of Harry and Meghan for years and was right there at the beginning of their relationship — but it has now soured.”
A perceived growing closeness with Diana’s brother Earl Spencer — who has just gone through his third divorce — has been overstated, with claims that Harry stayed at the Spencers’ family home Althorp House in Northamptonshire last August are understood to be incorrect.
Harry had flown back to Britain for his uncle Robert Fellowes’s funeral, which was also attended by Prince William.
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The couple earlier this month in a social media post for International Women’s DayCredit: Instagram
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While Harry wants to keep the couple’s kids out of the limelight, Meghan is more in tune with the US celebrity vibe of using your children as part of your brand
But the brothers — who have barely spoken since Megxit — did not share a word.
And Harry was noticeably absent from the Duke of Westminster’s wedding in the summer, where William was an usher.
Harry may well be a devoted and loving father to his children Archie, five, and three-year-old Lilibet.
But the Sussexes have disagreed in the past over how much they could allow their children to be seen in public.
‘Conscious business uncoupling’
Harry, with his own childhood in mind, wants to keep their children out of the press.
But Meghan is more in tune with the US celebrity vibe of using your children as part of your brand.
She has increasingly featured the children in social media posts and promotional material for her company launches this year.
Even so, neither child made an appearance in her Netflix cookery show which was released last month — to very mixed reviews.
Harry and Meghan have undergone a “conscious business uncoupling” this year — with the result that they spend less time together.
The move means that since January their business projects have been separated, with Meghan renaming her lifestyle brand As Ever, and her upcoming podcast Confessions Of A Female Founder.
Harry was demoted to a few seconds of looking uncomfortable in the final scene of her much-derided Netflix series With Love, Meghan.
In his first 18 months after Megxit came into force, Harry bought a California mansion, got a job at a Silicon Valley start-up, had a second child, started writing his memoir and signed a megabucks deal with Netflix.
Since then, his Netflix show Polo bombed, all contact with his brother and father has ceased, and this week he stepped down from his Sentebale charity.
It is also understood that there are no plans for any more Netflix shows, with Harry either in front of or behind the camera, as the deal runs out.
But his job as Chief Impact Officer at BetterUp Inc, an online coaching and mental health firm, is thought to be continuing.
The Invictus Games community is often dubbed Harry’s “family” but there is not another tournament scheduled for another two years, when it will be hosted by Birmingham.
I love my family, the fact I could jump on a plane and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.
Harry talking about King Charles after his cancer diagnosis
At the 2023 Games in Dusseldorf he was hanging out with male friends and going for pints of Guinness in an Irish bar.
Meghan left this year’s games in Canada early to be at home with their children, leaving Harry alone on Valentine’s Day.
The Invictus Games, and to a lesser extent his WellChild patronage, are the only things from Harry’s pre-Megxit royal life that he has clung on to.
This week, after a legal row with the Sentebale charity’s chairman Dr Sophie Chanduaka, he stepped down from the organisation which he had set up in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help children with HIV and Aids.
In a hugely damaging statement Dr Chanduaka blasted what she described as “weak governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir [misogyny directed at black women] — and the cover-up that ensued”.
Captain Mark Dyer, who Harry portrayed in his memoir Spare as a father figure and a close pal, has also stepped back from the charity.
Five years ago the Megxit settlement that Harry agreed with his gran Queen Elizabeth allowed the couple to use Frogmore Cottage, near Windsor Castle, as their UK home.
But they were evicted a few weeks after the King’s Coronation.
Last February, after jetting back to see his father days after his cancer diagnosis, Harry said: “I love my family.
“The fact I could jump on a plane and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.”
And he claimed: “Any illness, any sickness brings families together,” and pledged: “I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can.”
But Harry has not seen his father since then, and having to learn via the news when the King goes into hospital indicates that his loneliness and isolation is set to continue.
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Even Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie — who remained his last remaining royal ally — has been cast out by the paranoid princeCredit: Getty
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Harry launching his Lesotho charity in 2006 – but he stepped away from it this weekCredit: Rota
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As Harry grows increasingly alone in California, Meghan has launched a series of glitzy, heavily-promoted solo projects – here a rare appearance from the PrinceCredit: BackGrid
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Harry’s book SpareCredit: The Mega Agency