Harry Returning to Windsor After Mystery Surrounds Solo Visit to Queen

Prince Harry has returned to Windsor a day after his scramble to get to Scotland in time to say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II ended with her death being announced minutes before his plane touched down.

The Duke of Sussex was pictured leaving Balmoral Castle on September 9 and Newsweek understands he was heading to Windsor, where he had previously been staying at Frogmore Cottage, his U.K. home, with Meghan Markle.

Harry was in Britain on a tour, which had also taken him to Germany, when Buckingham Palace announced the news that doctors feared for the 96-year-old monarch's health.

Royal family members then began making travel arrangements to get up to Scotland, with Prince Charles, who is now king, and wife Camilla, now queen consort, among the first to arrive from Dumfries House, also in Scotland.

Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, traveled together by plane and it was at one stage thought Harry and Meghan might go with them.

However, when the plane landed at Aberdeen Airport, the Sussexes were not on board and it subsequently emerged Meghan was no longer making the journey alone.

Harry was left to make his own travel arrangements and it is not clear why he was not on the plane with William and the other royals, nor why Meghan did not accompany him.

There was speculation in the U.K. media about whether royal tensions may have played a role.

Nicholas Witchell, the BBC's royal correspondent, told viewers: "She might not be terribly warmly welcomed, to be perfectly candid about it."

Victoria Howard, a royal expert and editor of The Crown Chronicles, also told the BBC on September 8: "That does strike me as a little bit odd when most of the royals that are going are going in couples, Charles and Camilla for example. We think Edward and Sophie have traveled together.

"So slightly strange but we don't believe the Duchess of Cambridge is there either so perhaps that's more looking after the children, thinking about the wider family. So just sending the most close members of the family to see her. But maybe it does indicate something to do with the state of the relationship."

Harry and Meghan's spokesperson had originally said on Thursday: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be traveling to Scotland."

As the plans changed, it was then believed Meghan would join Harry in Scotland at a later date but Harry left Balmoral just after 8 a.m. U.K. time on Friday, September 9.

Meanwhile, King Charles III was heading to London where he is to meet the Prime Minister Liz Truss and at midday bells were due to toll for the queen.

Gun salutes were due to be fired at 1 p.m. U.K. time (8 a.m. ET) in Hyde Park by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company, with one round fired for each year of Elizabeth's 96 years of life.

A Buckingham Palace statement read: "Following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, it is His Majesty The King's wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen's Funeral. The date of the Funeral will be confirmed in due course.

"Royal Mourning will be observed by Members of the Royal Family, Royal Household staff and Representatives of the Royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to Ceremonial Duties."

The seven days that will follow the funeral will like extend the period of royal mourning, with original London Bridge plans accounting for a funeral ten days after Elizabeth's death.

However, the palace has not yet confirmed the date of the funeral and details are still being finalized.