Prince Harry whispered message to Archbishop before coronation, after reports he was the 'mediator' between warring royal brothers

Prince Harry may have only spent just 28 hours in the UK for King Charles III's coronation, but he still had time to catch up with a familiar face.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, reunited with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – who married him and wife Meghan Markle in 2018 – and shared a brief exchange with him at Westminster Abbey.

As the former senior working royal walked into the Abbey to take his third-row seat, Harry enjoyed a friendly joke with the Archbishop, according to a lip reader.

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Lip reading expert Jacqui Press told MailOnline the duke wished the bishop "good luck", who smiled and laughed after hearing the comment.

Welby went on to crown King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort at the historic coronation service on May 6.

But Harry's bond with the Archbishop doesn't end there. According to The Telegraph, the King asked Welby to "broker a deal" to allow Prince Harry to attend his coronation.

The publication reports Charles asked Welby to be a mediator between his two sons in the hope Harry would be able to witness the historic event.

Charles reportedly worried Harry's absence would be a "bigger distraction" than his attendance, while William is said to have wanted his brother to be excluded.

Buckingham Palace did not comment on the reports at the time. However, it is believed Welby acted as an intermediary between William and Harry during their reunion following the Queen's death.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, previously claimed the Archbishop of Canterbury secretly married her and Harry before their royal wedding at Windsor in 2018.

Welby later dismissed the claims and said the televised ceremony he officiated was the legal marriage. The Archbishop also baptised the couple's son Archie in 2019.

You can watch the coronation concert in full on Channel 9 and 9Now at midday.

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Harry, who flew in for the coronation on Friday night and left the ceremony 20 minutes after it ended, spent a total of 28 hours and 42 minutes in the UK.

The duke left royal fans guessing about his attendance at the King's coronation until the last minute, arriving solo at Westminster Abbey on May 6 while wife  Meghan Markle remained home in California with their children Archie and Lilibet. 

The 38-year-old touched down in Heathrow after an overnight flight on Friday, the day before the coronation, at 11.20am and drove to his former home Frogmore Cottage.

According to The Telegraph, Harry spent the night in Windsor and did not reunite with his father or brother Prince William before attending the coordination the next day.

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Harry then arrived at Westminster Abbey alongside his cousins Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and their husbands just 10 minutes before King Charles and Camilla made their entrance.

After sitting third-row in the pews at the Abbey to watch his father and stepmother be crowned, Harry reportedly slipped out immediately after the ceremony and headed straight for Heathrow to hop on a flight back to Los Angeles.

The official coronation schedule listed the ceremony as ending at 1pm, and it seems Harry bolted the Abbey quite soon after.