Prince Harry scored an “absolute own goal” after failing to make reference to his ill father or brother and sister-in-law, a royal expert has claimed.

It comes after the Duke made a brief visit to the UK to see King Charles III after the monarch announced his cancer diagnosis.

Harry spent around an hour in private with Charles, who is said to be doing “extremely well”.

There were hopes that the visit from California would help to repair severely damaged relationships between himself, his father, and Prince William, but these hopes were soon dashed.

To make matters worse, according to one royal expert, Harry failed to make an easy sign of reconciliation in a keynote speech he gave in Las Vegas shortly after his UK trip.

“I’m afraid he did miss an opportunity,” Michael Cole, the former royal correspondent for the BBC, told GB News.

“He had a golden chance to talk about his Majesty the King who he’d just visited hours beforehand, and had he said a few words and wished his father well, the Americans would’ve liked that.

“What would have gone down extremely well was if he’d sent good wishes to Kate, Princess of Wales because she has a great approval rating at 35 percent in America and her husband surprisingly enough […] was the most popular man in the world for Americans in a recent poll. I think he’s badly advised [it] was an absolute own goal.”

Harry’s appearance at the NFL Honours ceremony on Thursday, February 8, was a surprise to many. The role saw him present American football star Cam Heyward with the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

A series of gags made by the Duke were received well by the audience, especially when he invited that the US “stole rugby from us and you made it your own”.

He said: “Instead of passing it backwards, just pass it forwards. Why not wear pads and a helmet? Of course, have an offence and defence, that makes sense, and why not have a breather every 15 seconds? And you know what? Instead of a 10-month season, let’s just make it 18 weeks. Genius.”

Presenting the award to the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman, he said: “All kidding aside, what you guys do on and off the field is truly remarkable. You are role models for millions in the way you carry yourselves and the way you give back.

“This final award, the highest honour, is all about serving your community, and there is one special man we’d like to pay tribute to now.”

When Heyward received the award, he hugged the duke saying: “Prince freakin’ Harry, I’m just shocked, that’s Prince Harry.”

Queen Camilla said her husband was doing “extremely well under the circumstances”, and that he had undergone his first round of cancer treatment earlier this week.

She added that the King was “very touched” by all the messages of support he has received so far.