Prince Harry reported landing in the UK in the run-up to Philip’s funeral

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The Duke of Sussex is reported to have disembarked from a British Airways flight from Los Angeles at Heathrow Airport in London at 1:15 PM, the Sun newspaper reported, citing an eyewitness.

Official sources have declined to comment on Harry’s travel movements, but a Buckingham Palace spokesman said this weekend that the prince “plans to attend his grandfather’s funeral in Windsor” on Saturday.

The trip marks Harry’s first time to return to the UK since he and his wife Meghan stepped back as senior royals last March.

It is likely that Harry will want to follow existing coronavirus travel rules for international travelers to the UK and ensure a period of quarantine before attending the funeral.

Under those rules, travelers must complete a passenger locator form and provide proof of a negative coronavirus test before departing for the UK.

Once in England, visitors must either go home in quarantine for 10 days or in a managed quarantine hotel. During mandatory quarantine, two additional Covid-19 tests are required on days two and eight.

Harry could use the UK government’s “test-to-release” system to end his quarantine prematurely. It allows a person to take a private Covid-19 test on the fifth day of arrival to release them from self-isolation if their test result is negative. They must remain in quarantine while they wait for their test result.

Harry and Meghan say Prince Philip will be 'greatly missed'
There are also guidelines for mourners entering the country, allowing them to leave their self-isolation in “limited circumstances” on compassionate grounds, including “attending a funeral for a family member, close relative, or friend.” The individual must isolate himself at all other times.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will not accompany her husband to the funeral. She is expecting the couple’s second baby this summer and “has been advised by her doctor not to travel to the UK from California, where they live,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said on Saturday.

The Queen has approved a ceremony adapted to the plan the Duke of Edinburgh agreed to years ago to respect pandemic restrictions.

Prince Philip will be buried in a private funeral at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, in what is known as a ‘ceremonial royal funeral’, and will not remain in state, according to the palace’s arrangements to the press. .

Under royal protocol, state funerals are usually reserved for monarchs, so the Duke’s burial will be similar to that of the Queen Mother in 2002, the spokesman explained.

The revised arrangements have been in “close consultation” with government and public health officials to meet social distance guidelines, which limit funerals to 30 people.

CNN’s James Frater and Lindsay Issac contributed to this report.

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