Prince Harry left London on Wednesday, roughly 24 hours after he arrived at Heathrow. On Tuesday, he traveled (with police escort) straight from Heathrow to Clarence House, where he had a brief meeting with his father. Brief being… somewhere between 30-45 minutes. After which, Charles and Camilla immediately escaped to Sandringham and Harry checked into a London hotel overnight, and left London the next morning. While Harry was in the air, on his way back to California, palace aides, senior staffers and likely some primary royals all began testing out their talking points for why Harry was wrong, rude and tacky for traveling fourteen hours to see his father in person after Charles was diagnosed with cancer. Robert Jobson got a call (I’m covering that separately) and it looks like Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast got some calls too. Sykes is interesting because his sources always sound deeply embedded within Prince William’s bum. It’s the same here – Harry’s visit really lit a fire under William’s ass and suddenly the disappearing prince was screaming from the rooftops that HE had no plans to see or speak to his brother.

Prince Harry was heading back to Los Angeles Wednesday, meaning he will have taken a 11,000 mile round trip to spend just half an hour with his tired father King Charles and sleep in a hotel, in what some sources said looked like a “partial snub.”

One former courtier told The Daily Beast: “He did get to meet the king which is something, but they hardly rolled out the red carpet for him. If circumstances were different, one might have expected him to be offered a bed either at Clarence House [the king’s London home] or at Sandringham. I am sure the king was delighted to see him but I think what you are seeing is that great care being taken to insulate the king and queen from Harry.”

It is thought the king met Harry alone at Clarence House yesterday and was not joined by Queen Camilla, who was described by Harry in his memoir Spare as willing to “sacrifice” him and leave “bodies on the street” in her quest to improve her standing in the public eye and be named queen.

A friend of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s told The Daily Beast: “I’m not surprised he was only given one meeting. There was never any prospect he was going to meet William. It’s a partial snub because he has clearly been told there is nothing to stop him being on his way.”

Duncan Larcombe, former royal editor for the Sun and a biographer of Harry, told The Daily Beast: “It may look to outsiders fairly cold to see your son for only half an hour if they have flown from L.A. to London for the meeting, but I’m sure Harry wouldn’t have expected anything more given his father is poorly. In fact, for Charles to see Harry at all at such short notice, despite having just had cancer treatment, could be read as an encouraging sign that the king still wants to rebuild the relationship with him.”

[From The Daily Beast]

This alone explains SO MUCH of the coverage of Harry’s trip and the after-action reporting: “It is thought the king met Harry alone at Clarence House yesterday and was not joined by Queen Camilla.” I’m genuinely glad that at least Charles had the stones to tell Camilla to GTFO while he spoke to his son. I’m sure Camilla was trying to listen at the door, but the lack of reporting of what was said between father and son speaks volumes about who is leaking what. That also means that none of William’s Kensington Palace clowns were anywhere near the meeting.

So, to recap – Charles called Harry several days ago to tell him about the cancer, Harry immediately wants to come to the UK and see his dad, and Charles helps arrange the trip (the police escort, going straight to Clarence House). Charles then arranges to meet Harry alone and they have a brief visit, and Charles’s people officially leak it to friendly outlets that Charles was moved that Harry made the journey. Then Camilla, William and their staffers proceed to freak the f–k out and throw a huge tantrum about how Harry is rude for this or that, and William still hates Harry and refuses to see him. Nowhere has Harry actually said that he tried to meet William or even talk to him. It really is just… insane.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.