Prince Harry’s three phrase message as he comforts grieving lady on flight
The Duke of Sussex’s touching three-word message provided solace during her time of loss, with the passenger saying she believes her nan arranged the chance encounter.
Justine Parkhurst found herself sitting next to Prince Harry on an American Airlines flight(Image: Facebook)
A woman returning home after laying her grandmother to rest has disclosed how Prince Harry consoled her during their commercial flight. Justine Parkhurst was in floods of tears on the aircraft from Sydney as she mourned her nan, whose funeral she had just attended, when she spotted the Duke of Sussex seated beside her.
Harry, 41, provided the stranger with words of solace while airborne. Justine said: “We chatted for a minute and I told him that my Nan is the only one I really wanted to tell about sitting next to the royal. He said, ‘She already knows’. I believe he is right, I bet she arranged the whole thing.”
It was purely by extraordinary chance that Justine was aboard the flight on Saturday as she and her husband had been booked on Friday’s journey, but made a last-minute change.
They were subsequently upgraded to the first-class cabin on the American Airlines twin-jet Boeing 777-300ER, the section where Harry and Meghan Markle were travelling following their Australian tour.
Yet after her exchange with the prince, Justine is convinced her grandmother is watching over her and orchestrated the stroke of luck. She added: “My husband and I got super lucky and were upgraded to first class. While waiting to board… I will tell you that he (Harry) was very nice and so was his wife. They were sweet to everyone and each other.”
Justine spotted two plain-clothed men with firearms concealed beneath their jackets while she waited to board the aircraft. Taxpayers allegedly footed the security bill for Meghan and Harry’s four-day visit last week. For the final portion of their journey, the pair lodged at InterContinental Coogee Beach Hotel, which sits roughly 20 minutes by car from Sydney Airport, reports the Mirror.
Writing on Facebook following the encounter, Justine revealed: “I sat down and a few tears started to roll down my face, I’m always happy to get the upgrade for that long flight but I wished I had not been on the plane at all.
“I didn’t even notice the person sitting next to me until they were adjusting the seat and getting comfortable. It was Prince Harry. His wife was across from him and their security guards right behind them.”
Meghan, it is understood, sat across the aisle from Harry in a single pod. This positioned her husband, whom she wed in 2018, in a middle‐aisle seat, which meant he was beside Justine. She was returning to her home in North Carolina, via Los Angeles, after the emotional journey to Australia, where her grandmother lived.
Harry and Meghan’s trip, conversely, was a contentious pseudo-royal tour. Despite some charitable activities, the vast majority of Australians – 81% – stated in a poll this week the visit did not enhance their opinion of the duo whatsoever.
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