Harry announces trip to Canada in clash with William’s Earthshot awards in Rio

The Duke of Sussex is to carry out a trip to Canada this week, clashing with his brother the Prince of Wales’s Earthshot Prize awards ceremony during his major tour to Brazil.

Harry’s visit to Toronto to meet with veterans, members of the armed forces community and military charities was announced just minutes after William kicked off his stay in Rio de Janeiro with a welcome ceremony on Sugarloaf Mountain.

The overseas trip marks a pivotal and personally important moment for heir to the throne William.

He is carrying out a host of engagements in the South American country, including staging his glittering Earthshot Prize ceremony in Rio on Wednesday, and also later travelling to the Cop30 climate change talks in the Amazon to represent his father the King.

The royal brothers have a long reported rift which shows no sign of abating, but the duke’s spokesperson insisted the visit had been almost a year in the planning and that the announcement happened because of a “truncated” time period in which Harry’s engagements can be revealed due to security.

They said the Royal Communications team had been consulted and made aware of Harry’s plans in advance of the announcement.

Harry is making his the journey to mark Remembrancetide, the two-week period leading up to Remembrance Sunday.

He will attend a lunch with the military charity True Patriot Love Foundation on Wednesday and then a private fundraising function with the Halo Trust in the evening, the same day as William’s Earthshot Prize awards, the cornerstone of his ambitious drive to save the planet.

The next day, November 6, the duke will visit the Veterans Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, one of the largest veteran care facilities in Canada, and then in the evening, attend the 17th annual True Patriot Love National Tribute Dinner in celebration of military members, veterans and their families.

The duke’s spokesperson said: “The events were planned nearly a year ago.

“The date of the main event, the dinner, is set by the charity, not Prince Harry.

“The period of Remembrancetide traditionally extends from the 1-11 November and has done since 1918, over 100 years.

“He can’t choose to move those dates.”

The spokesperson added that the duke was “not afforded the same level of security and protection as other ‘working’ members of the royal family”.

They added: “It means therefore, that the period of time in which we can can release details of events is much more truncated than it is for His Majesty the King or the Prince of Wales.

“We are always guided – as to when we can announce trips like this, by the advice given to us by his private security advisers and the event’s security team.”

They added: “This visit, months in the planning, marks a return to a city that has a special place in the Duke’s heart, having played host to the Invictus Games back in 2017.”

Harry stepped down as a working senior royal in 2020 during Megxit and moved to the US.

The duke, who served in Afghanistan, was invited to Canada by the True Patriot Love Foundation.