Boris Johnson’s ‘hopeless’ bid to persuade Prince Harry to stay

But this meeting, between the Spare and the Hair Apparent, seems to reveal an unexpected overlap between the political and royal worlds and adds another dimension to how Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK.

It is not something that gets mentioned in their Netflix film or Harry’s own memoir.

From the details revealed so far it is also not clear whether the prime minister was giving relationship advice based on his own experiences. A month later Johnson revealed he was engaged to Carrie Symonds and they were expecting a baby.

However, nothing seemed likely to stop the departure of Prince Harry, who the night before the meeting with the PM had spoken, “not as a prince or a duke but as Harry”, of his plans to live a different life from his role as a working royal.

This family drama overlapped with the Africa investment summit – and when Prince William hosted a reception for summit guests that evening in Buckingham Palace, Prince Harry did not attend and was about to leave on a flight to Canada.

He has since moved to live with his family in California in the US – although he returns to the UK regularly and will be here next week at a charity event.

According to the Mail, Johnson, in his effort to keep the prince from departing, had hailed him as a valuable asset to “UK plc” and praised his work, such as the Invictus Games for military veterans.