'Besotted' Prince Harry goes against royal policy for Meghan Markle
Prince Harry has gone against orders from Kensington Palace, choosing to take a 1,700-mile detour to spend time with his girlfriend Meghan Markle.
Kensington Palace had stated that the 32-year-old royal would be flying straight back to London at the end of his Caribbean tour, as he has public engagements in the UK this week.
Instead, Harry cancelled his seat on the British Airways flight home and flew to Toronto, Canada on Sunday night to see Ms Markle because he "couldn't wait" to spend time with her.
His trip goes against official Palace policy that members of the Royal family should not combine personal trips with official business.
The Daily Telegraph reports that although the Prince paid for his own ticket to Canada, the cost of diverting at least one police protection officer to Toronto to guard him will be met by the taxpayer.
It was unclear whether Kensington Palace will be able to claim any refund on any pre-paid business class tickets back to London - also paid for with public money.
A pal said: "Harry just couldn't wait to see her.
"He was due to fly back to London on a British Airways flight with the rest of his entourage.
"But he changed his mind and diverted straight to see her as they couldn't bear to be apart."
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Harry is said to be "absolutely besotted" with the 'Suits' star, who he has been dating for around six months since meeting her in May.
The friend added to The Sun newspaper: "It's just another sign of how head-over-heels he is about her.
"He is absolutely besotted. We've never seen him so happy - it's great."
Harry hadn't seen the raven-haired beauty for three weeks when she visited him in London.
The flame-haired royal has been visiting seven Caribbean islands over the past two weeks.
During his tour, Harry was invited to Antigua for his future honeymoon with Meghan at a VIP bash at the official residence of the queen's representative, the Governor General.
In front of 300 guests the country's Prime Minister Gaston Browne asked him if they'd like to spend their wedding holiday in the West Indies should they tie the knot one day.
Browne told the crowd: "I believe we are expecting a new princess soon.
"I want you to know that you are very welcome to come on your honeymoon here."
