Prince Harry to attend charity event in London -- but meeting up with the family isn’t on the agenda

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry is attending a charity event Thursday night in London, though he isn’t expected to meet with King Charles III or Prince William as Britain prepares to mark the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Harry’s relationship with his family has been strained since he and his wife, Meghan, moved to California in 2020. The rift deepened over the past year as Harry critiqued the family in a six-part Netflix series and his memoir, “Spare,” a title that alludes to his position as the spare royal son rather than William’s role as heir to the throne.

The Daily Mail newspaper cited a palace insider as saying Charles had no time in his diary to see his younger son. The king is at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the queen died on Sept. 8, 2022. William is 100 miles (160 kilometers) from London in Bournemouth.

Harry traveled to Britain to take part in the annual awards ceremony sponsored by WellChild, which helps seriously ill children get the treatment they need at home, rather than in a hospital. The prince has supported the charity since 2007 and has attended the awards ceremony on 11 previous occasions.

The WellChild Awards honor the inspirational achievements of young people it serves and those who care for them. Harry is to present the award for Inspirational Child aged 4-6 and deliver a speech. He also is to spend time with the winners and their families.

Harry is expected to travel to London without Meghan.

The couple will reunite this weekend at the Invictus Games for injured soldiers, which begins Saturday in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Modeled after the Warrior Games in the United States, the Invictus Games were founded by Harry in 2014 as an international Paralympic-style event to inspire military veterans as they work to overcome battlefield injuries.