During a royal engagement, King Charles once left people stunned with a devastating four-word reply when asked about Prince Harry.

King Charles.

King Charles once gave a heartbreaking response to a question about Prince Harry. (Image: Getty)

During a royal engagement, King Charles once left people stunned with a devastating four-word reply when asked about his estranged son, Prince Harry.

Since Prince Harry dramatically quit his royal role in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California where he lives with his wife, Meghan Markle, and two children, meet-ups with his royal relatives have been few and far between.

In February 2023, King Charles visited the University of East London for its 125th anniversary, unveiling a plaque and opening its new hospital and primary care training hub. He shook the hands of onlooking students who had waited for hours to see him.

As he shook hands, one man shouted: “Bring back Harry please, can you please bring him back please, Sir?.” The King appeared to not hear at first and asked him: “Who?” The man replied: “Harry, your son” to which Charles heartbreakingly issued the four-word reply: “It would be nice.”

King Charles and his youngest son, Prince Harry, have had a bumpy relationship since the release of Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare in 2023, and the interview alongside Meghan Markle with TV show host, Oprah Winfrey where he spoke in detail of his time within the Royal Family.

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle waving.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020. (Image: Getty)

Harry and Meghan opened up in explicit detail about why they chose to leave the Firm almost a year after their departure in the tell-all interview.

Prince Harry further opened up about his life in the Royal Family in his memoir, which detailed his life growing up in his brother’s shadow, his mother’s death, and his eventual time in the military.

Harry wrote in his book: “The Heir and the Spare – there was no judgment about it, but also no ambiguity. I was the shadow, the support, the Plan B. I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy.”

It was hoped that King Charles’s recent cancer diagnosis would go some way to repairing fractured relations between the Firm and Harry and this appeared to be the case when Harry flew over after learning of his illness earlier this year.

But the meeting at Clarence House with his dad lasted approximately 45 minutes, with Prince Harry only staying in London for 25 hours in total for his return visit when he heard of the news.

Speaking later about his trip back home, Harry told ABC News: “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.”

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Prince Harry at the late Queen's funeral

Since leaving the Firm, Prince Harry has only returned to the UK on a few occasions. (Image: Getty)

Prince Harry also returned to the UK for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, which Harry co-founded in 2014, but none of his immediate family attended the event at St Paul’s Cathedral.

It comes as Express.co.uk learns this summer, that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not been invited to Balmoral to join the rest of the Royal Family.

According to a well-placed source, the Sussexes have been left off the official guest list for the Firm’s August summit so that King Charles, 75, and Kate, Princess of Wales, 42, can enjoy family time following a difficult year.

“Harry and Meghan will not be joining the rest of the Royal Family in August,” said the source.

“The King is keen for it to be a happy family occasion which will see members of the Royal Family come together for just over a week to discuss plans for the future and to unwind.”