Prince Harry has arrived for what could be his last official engagement before he leaves for Canada. The 35-year-old royal is hosting bilateral meetings with the leaders of Malawi, Mozambique and Morocco at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in Greenwich – but will not be in attendance when his brother, Prince William, hosts a special summit reception at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening. It’s thought that the Greenwich gathering could be Harry's last official engagement before he flies to Vancouver to reunite with his wife Meghan Markle and their son Archie, who he has been apart from for almost two weeks. Harry has no more engagements in his diary and is almost certain to fly out to Canada imminently; it is not known when he will return to London, but he is believed to have events in Britain before the spring.
Harry's appearance comes less than 24 hours after he spoke of his "great sadness" at stepping back as a senior royal, during an impassioned speech at a private dinner for Sentebale, the charity he helped establish in 2006. Stating that he would always consider the UK his home, he paid a touching tribute to his grandmother, the Queen, calling her his "commander-in-chief", and said he was "incredibly grateful" to his family for supporting the couple. "The UK is my home and a place that I love. That will never change," he said. "I have grown up feeling support from so many of you, and I watched as you welcomed Meghan with open arms as you saw me find the love and happiness that I had hoped for all my life. Finally, the second son of Diana got hitched, hurray!
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"I also know you've come to know me well enough over all these years to trust that the woman I chose as my wife upholds the same values as I do. And she does, and she's the same woman I fell in love with. We both do everything we can to fly the flag and carry out our roles for this country with pride. Once Meghan and I were married, we were excited, we were hopeful, and we were here to serve.
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"For those reasons, it brings me great sadness that it has come to this. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back, is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven't always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option. What I want to make clear is we're not walking away, and we certainly aren't walking away from you."