Prince Harry was offered royal residence to stay in by King Charles during his recent UK trip. But the Duke of Sussex is said to have declined the offer, insiders have said.

He arrived in London last Tuesday for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, reports WalesOnline, and he attended a service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday. The Duke reportedly chose to stay in a hotel during the brief visit.

It came after the keys for Frogmore Cottage were returned by him and his wife Meghan Markle last summer after they were asked to leave their English home. But sources have said that, as a result of having no official residence in the UK, King Charles had offered his youngest son a place to stay in a Royal residence for the trip.

But Harry opted to stay in a hotel instead, The Sunday Times reported. During his whirlwind trip back to the UK, there was speculation that the two would meet up.

But it was disclosed just after his arrival last Tuesday that his father, King Charles, was too preoccupied to meet. According to a spokesperson for the Duke: “It, unfortunately, will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full programme. The Duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.”

It has suggested by friends close to Harry that he made considerable efforts to coordinate a meeting with his father. This came in the wake of the Sunday Times suggesting insiders near the Monarch deemed it more practical for a father-son meet if Harry had chosen to stay at a Royal residence rather than a hotel.

But counter to these suggestions, some assert that Harry did not request a meeting with his father or invited him to the Invictus Games event. “It’s all very sad,” a friend of the King relayed to the Sunday Times.

They added: “While it is true that the King is understandably wary about meeting with Harry, given the publicity circus that seems to surround all such visits, he did of course agree to see his son at the most vulnerable moment of his illness [in February], and at very short notice.”