Prince Harry did not attend the wedding of Charles Vivian, a close pal who featured in his famous ‘band of brothers’ photo at his nuptials, despite receiving an invitation

Prince Harry has skipped the wedding of one of his closest pals despite being invited, amid secretly jetting into the UK. At his own wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018, Harry stood shoulder to shoulder in a photo with close confidant Charles Vivian, which was shared in the Sussex’s Netflix series.

However, when Lord Vivian tied the knot with his new wife Saweda Kamara at Chelsea Old Town Hall at the weekend, Harry was nowhere to be seen. Lord Vivian, 58, a public relations expert, is said to have helped Harry set up several of his charity trips to Africa and the Duke of Sussex even was an usher at his first wedding.

But Lord Vivian told the Daily Mail that Harry was invited to the wedding but did not attend. When asked why he was not there to celebrate the happy day, he told the publication: “I don’t know. He has a lot on.”

News of Harry skipping the wedding comes as he reportedly made a secret trip to the UK landing just hours before his his father King Charles travelled to Italy for a historic state visit. The Duke of Sussex is said to have landed in London on Sunday – the same weekend as the wedding – with the trip coming ahead of the latest stage of the his legal challenge over the level of security he is given when he is in the UK starting at the Court of Appeal today.

Arriving on Sunday means that Harry’s time in the UK has overlapped with his father, whom he last saw more than a year ago when it was first announced that the monarch had been diagnosed with cancer.

However, according to The Sun, it is unknown if the pair met up. Harry has been taking legal action against the Home Office over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the UK.

The High Court was told that the decision was made as a result of a change in the duke’s “status” after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the royal family“. In a judgment in February last year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. Harry’s appeal against the ruling is scheduled to be heard today and tomorrow at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

His apparent trip to the UK comes amid Harry being embroiled in a bitter war of words over his African charity Sentebale, which he dramatically quit almost two weeks ago. The orgnaniation is now the subject of a case by the Charity Commission. Harry described the past week’s events, which have included the chairwoman of the Sentebale charity levelling accusations of bullying and harassment in a bid to remove her, as “heartbreaking to witness”.

Several trustees have left the charity in a dispute with its chairwoman, Sophie Chandauka, having requested her resignation. Harry and fellow founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho backed the departing trustees and announced they had resigned as patrons until further notice last week.

Meanwhile, Harry’s case at the Royal Courts of Justice also coincides with the second day of Charles and Camilla’s second day of their state visit to Italy. Today they will watch a flypast of jets from the aerobatic teams of the UK and Italy when their state visit begins in earnest.

At the same time, in the United States, Harry’s wife Meghan is set to launch the first episode of her podcast, Confession of a Female Founder. The teaser for Confessions of a Female Founder, made with Lemonada Media, sees Meghan saying that it will give the “kind of advice that turns small ideas into billion-dollar businesses”.

In the one-minute preview for the show which was released several weeks ago, the Duchess of Sussex says: “I’m Meghan, and this is Confessions of a Female Founder, a show where I chat with female entrepreneurs and friends about the sleepless nights, the lessons learned, and the laser focus that got them to where they are today.

“We’re diving into the highs — and the lows – and the kind of advice that turns small ideas into billion-dollar businesses. And of course, we’re going to get some girl talk!”