Prince Harry jumped on a plane to visit King Charles ‘as soon as I could’ after learning of his cancer diagnosis – as he vows ‘I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can’

Prince Harry today said he ‘jumped on a plane’ and went to go and see King Charles ‘as soon as I could’ after he spoke to his father on the phone about his cancer diagnosis.

The Duke of Sussex also said he was ‘grateful’ to have visited Charles and hopes his father’s diagnosis can heal his rift with the royals, saying: ‘I love my family.’

Harry discussed the King’s health as he spoke publicly for the first time since Charles postponed all public-facing duties last week following the diagnosis.

He told ABC’s Good Morning America about his visit to London without Meghan and their children, less than 24 hours after the announcement about Charles’s health.

Asked by GMA presenter Will Reeve how the short trip back home was for him ’emotionally’, Harry replied: ‘Um, look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.’

Reeve, the son of late Superman actor Christopher Reeve who was paralysed in 1995, said: ‘I’ve also found in my own life that sort of an illness in the family can have a galvanising or a sort of reunifying effect for a family. Is that possible in this case?’

Speaking in Whistler, Canada, Harry replied: ‘Absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these families I see it on a day-to-day basis, again, the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any sickness brings families together.’

Asked how he had ‘processed the fact that there’s so much happening back with your family and where you come from’, Harry said: ‘I have my own family, as we all do, right? My family and my life in California is as it is. I have got other trips planned that would take me through the UK or back to the UK. I will stop in and see my family as much as I can.’

On being a father, Harry said: ‘I can’t tell you, that’s classified. It’s top secret. The kids are doing great. The kids are growing up like all kids do, very very fast. They have both got an incredible sense of humour and make us laugh and keep us grounded every single day, like most kids do. So I’m just very grateful to be a dad.’ 

Harry said living in the US was ‘amazing – I love every single day.’ Asked ‘do you feel American’, the Duke said: ‘Do I feel American? No. I don’t know how I feel.’ 

But asked if he would you think about becoming a US citizen, Harry added: ‘I have considered it, yeah.’ Asked what would stop him doing it, the Duke said: ‘I have no idea. I’m here standing here next to this with these guys. American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind but certainly not something that’s a high priority for me right now.’

At the end of a week that has seen a series of announcements by the Sussexes:

Harry is also due to talk about the possibility of becoming a US citizen, his life with the Duchess of Sussex in California and the Invictus Games during the broadcast.

At the start of the show, GMA said the chat would be a ‘one-on-one with Prince Harry on his father King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, his relationship with the Royal Family now, how he is as a dad, and giving us access to the first ever Invictus winter games’.

It later added: ‘Ahead, Prince Harry. What he says about his father’s health and their relationship now as he gives us a first look at the first ever Invictus winter games.’ 

The Duke, who lives in Montecito with his wife and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, flew to the UK last week to see the King.

But there was no meeting with his brother, the Prince of Wales, after Harry spent around 45 minutes at Clarence House seeing their father.

The interview comes after a week of announcements from Harry and his wife the Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan signed a deal with Lemonada Media to record new podcast shows, and the company will distribute her previous series.

Her Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes ran for just one series before a lucrative deal with Spotify ended in 2023.

The couple also relaunched their Archewell website, the name of their foundation, rebranding it The Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

A film crew led by Mr Reeve has been following Harry and his wife Meghan Markle since they arrived in Canada on Tuesday for a countdown event to the Invictus Games in Whistler and Vancouver. 

In a tweet posted at 1.49am UK time (9pm Eastern Time last night), the GMA account wrote: ‘Exclusive: The all-new interview with Prince Harry on his life with Meghan, how his father King Charles is doing and his passion supporting wounded warriors.’ 

This was accompanied by a clip showing Harry speaking to Mr Reeve in Whistler and a photo of the King waving as he left The London Clinic on January 29. 

A voiceover said: ‘Tomorrow morning, a GMA exclusive, Prince Harry, the all-new interview on his life today with Meghan, how his father the King is doing and on his passion – supporting wounded warriors. Tomorrow on Good Morning America.’

The trip comes as they unveiled a rebrand on Monday with a glossy new Sussex.com website, which saw critics claim they were trying to cash in on royal connections. 

But last night, the Sussexes defiantly hit back by insisting: ‘We will not be broken’. 

And the visit comes just over a week after Harry returned from a flying visit to London, where he met with his father for 45 minutes following his cancer diagnosis.

He was seen two days later at an NFL awards ceremony in Las Vegas but was absent from the Super Bowl last Sunday, before he and Meghan relaunched their website. 

Meanwhile, Kensington Palace confirmed today that Harry’s brother Prince William will attend the Bafta Film Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall this Sunday evening.

The Prince of Wales is the Bafta president and will watch the ceremony before meeting winners – and it comes ahead of a wider return to public duties as his wife Kate Middleton continues to recuperate following her abdominal surgery last month.

Harry and Meghan have come under fire in recent days over their new Sussex.com website, in particular Meghan’s coat of arms – which critics claim is a breach of their promise to the late Queen Elizabeth II when they quit front-line royal duties.

Their decision to change their children Archie and Lilibet’s surnames to Sussex has also raised eyebrows among royal watchers.

The moves have sparked a fresh round of criticism of the Duke and Duchess and renewed calls for the duo to have their titles removed. But a representative told the Mirror that the couple ‘will not be broken’. 

They added: ‘We’ve heard time and time again that certain opportunities are make or break for the couple. They’re still here. 

‘They’re still working and pursuing what they believe in, despite being constantly challenged and criticised. This couple will not be broken.’

Now, Harry has been interviewed for the first time since Charles postponed all public-facing duties because of his cancer diagnosis. 

Yesterday, the Sussexes did not look phased as they took part in activities at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistlers One Year To Go Winter Training Camp, while being followed around by a camera crew. 

While Meghan did not take part in the bobsledding fun at the Whistler Sliding Center in British Columbia, she was able to enjoy every aspect of her husband’s ride when he got off the sled – before he enthusiastically re-enacted it to his wife and Invictus volunteers after getting off.

The Duchess – who has joined her husband on a multi-day trip to Canada in honor of the one-year countdown to the 2025 Invictus Games – also served as her husband’s personal photographer.

She was beaming with pride as she held up her phone to snap images and clips as he whizzed to the end of the track. 

But Meghan – who accessorized her phone with a $250 case from Bottega Veneta – was not the only videographer on hand to capture every moment of the Duke’s whistle-top trip around the bobsled track. 

The ABC crew was closely following the Sussexes, interviewing Harry for ten minutes after his first bobsledding adventure, before he set off for a second go around the track. 

When asked by an onlooker whether she planned to join her husband in trying out the daring sport, Meghan laughingly yelled back: ‘I can’t!’

However, she watched on with pride as her husband completed his two runs – although she took some time to warm up in the back of the couple’s Ford Expedition SUV while Harry took some time out from the track to chat with the GMA crew.

But before long, he was back at it, drawing his wife out of the car to watch on as he enjoyed a second race on the sled.  

After whizzing round for a second time, a beaming Harry made his way down the hill arm-in-arm with Meghan, posing for pictures as they went.

Harry and Meghan kicked off day two of their Invictus Games One Year to Go tour shortly after 1pm local time yesterday (9pm UK time) – although their appearance at the venue was delayed by over 30 minutes while the Duke was given a safety briefing.

The couple, fresh from a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner date, were both on chipper form as they made their entrance to the venue, with a beaming Harry whizzing past on his bobsled and Meghan quipping ‘I can hear him’ as his sled set off and filming him on her phone as he flashed past.

Meghan was wrapped up against the -4C (25F) temperatures in a black padded jacket and leggings and a navy hat and scarf while her husband kept things casual in gray pants and a black insulated Invictus Games-branded jacket – topped off with a white crash helmet.

After the high-speed arrival, to the sound of Invictus branded cowbells waved by onlookers, came a meet and greet with athletes preparing to perform at the event next year on a platform overlooking the track.

Among the athletes waiting to be introduced were Canadian veteran and mental health advocate Mark Beare, Estonian former soldier and amputee Rasmus Penno and Nigerian powerlifter and ex-soldier Peacemaker Azuegbulam.

Peacemaker, a 27-year-old double amputee from Imo, Nigeria, made his skeleton debut immediately after Harry – despite never having seen snow or been on a bobsled before.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Peacemaker said he was thrilled to be reunited with the couple after being introduced to them at Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Germany, last year where he won a gold medal in powerlifting.

Now preparing to take part in the skeleton competition at the 2025 Games, despite only making his debut today, the double amputee said the sport had helped him come to terms with the injuries he sustained during a firefight with Boko Haram terrorists in November 2020.

He said: ‘At first I felt ashamed because of my injuries but then I was introduced to the Games and began with playing volleyball. Now I feel good, now I feel recovered.

‘I am proud to be the first Invictus champion from Africa and I feel recharged. It totally changed my mindset.’

Certainly there could be no better place to try out the sport than at the track, which is part of the Whistler Blackcomb resort, a venue built specifically for the 2010 Winter Olympics which were also held in the town, and which boasts a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track.

However, the track – which is billed as the fastest in the world – is not for the faint of heart, featuring a staggering 485ft (148m) vertical drop and 16 curves, while the surrounding stadium has space for 12,000 spectators. 

Described by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) as an ‘adrenaline sport’, skeleton racing was developed more than 100 years ago in Switzerland when amateur daredevils began racing down icy slopes on toboggan sleds. 

Ultimately, the hobby grew so popular that it was added to the Winter Olympics line-up – and the daring athletes who now take part in the sport now reach a staggering top speed of more than 93 miles-per-hour – more than 30 miles faster than Harry managed during his attempts. 

While the row over Sussex.com remains ongoing, it has failed to detract from their enjoyment of the Invictus Games training camp with both seen laughing and joking with competitors on day one which took place on Wednesday in sub-zero conditions on the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain.

There, Harry tried his hand at sit-ski – an adapted version of the sport designed for amputees – while Meghan smiled broadly as she met visually impaired athletes who were nonetheless prepared to take to the slopes in next year’s competition.

Later, the couple met First Nations youth ambassadors representing the native Canadian tribes on whose land the Games are taking place.

The duo privately toured the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center in Whistler where they were shown around by Chief Nelson and Wilson Williams and met artists who created the new Invictus Games logo for the event.

In a statement, Harry and Meghan said: ‘The evening and presentation were extremely meaningful.

‘IG2025 and the couple could not be more proud to share the artists’ piece with the world. The couple recognizes the significance of the First Nation communities welcoming the Invictus Games onto their sacred land and are thankful for their warmth and hospitality.’

The pair, who have been staying in Whistler, are due to head back to Vancouver ahead of an event in the City of Glass today where Harry is due to make a speech.

After that, the couple are expected to head home to Montecito, California, where they will be reunited with their children Archie, four, and Lilibet, two.