Prince Harry sits next to 'second dad' Mark 'Marko' Dyer at Invictus service after King Charles snub

Prince Harry has been joined by his "second dad" Mark Dyer at his Invictus Games event after being snubbed by the Royal Family.

The Duke of Sussex is at St Paul's Cathedral, London, to attend a service of thanksgiving to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his Invictus Games. Inside the event, Harry took his seat next to Mark, who has been very close to Harry following the tragic death of Princess Diana.

Also at the Invictus event were Diana's siblings Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Spencer. Harry was greeted by the Dean of St Paul's as he made his way up the steps before being escorted to his seat. Mark's support of Harry comes after the Duke of Sussex was snubbed by his father King Charles.

For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US.

READ MORE: Prince Harry wears medal 'awarded for service to the monarchy' after King Charles snub

Harry had hoped to visit Charles during his visit, but it was announced the monarch was too busy. A spokesperson for Harry said: "In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the Duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty's full programme. The Duke of course is understanding of his father's diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon."

Mark, nicknamed Marko, served Charles until the late 1990s, and acted as a mentor to Harry and his brother Prince William after their mother's death in 1997. Writing in his memoir Spare, Harry admitted he was initially mesmerised by Mark, who had the same ginger hair he did.

"I was a ginger, self-conscious about it, but Marko was an extreme ginger and owned it. I gawped at him and thought: teach me to be like that," he wrote.

He also revealed in his memoir that Mark was there for the important moments in his life, and was even sent by Charles to speak to Harry about the negative headlines he racked up during his teenage years. The father-of-two recalled Mark met him in a café to scold him over his drug-taking, and Mark took him to visit a residential centre for drug users in south London in an effort to make him see the error of his ways.

It was also Mark who warned Harry to never talk about his mother Diana in interviews, at the insistence of his father Charles. "Pa was dead-set against me addressing that topic; he didn’t want either of his sons speaking about Mummy, for fear it would cause a stir, distract from his work, and perhaps shine an unflattering light on Camilla,” he wrote.

After he left school, Harry and Mark embarked on a gap year together, travelling to Australia, Argentina and Lesotho, and the pair are said to still be close. Harry was an usher at Mark’s wedding to Amanda Kline in 2010 in Wales, while Harry asked Mark to serve as an usher at his own wedding in 2018. Mark’s son Jasper, who has the Duke as his godfather, also served as a page boy at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s star-studded wedding in 2018. Mark was later asked by the couple to be godfather to their firstborn Archie in 2019.

* Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.