Who is Guy Monson: the financier Prince Harry had dinner with instead of his dad

As Prince Harry makes a rare trip to the UK this week ahead of the Invictus Games, it has been revealed that he won’t be meeting with his father, but rather a city financier with whom he places an enormous amount of trust.

This isn’t Harry’s handiwork, but rather the decision of King Charles III — a decision which many are calling a snub. Despite the Duke of Sussex’s increasingly infrequent trips to the UK, Charles has declared that he is simply too busy to squeeze Harry in.

A spokesman for the Prince said today: “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.”

In response, Harry and Meghan’s Archewell foundation confirmed he’ll be meeting another man instead: Guy Monson, a city financier Harry has been grown close to over the past few years of royal rifts.

The most important thing to know about Monson is that he was once treasurer to the Cambridges and the Sussexes' joint foundation, before Harry and Meghan quit as senior working royals and emigrated to the US.

It makes sense that Harry would put so much financial trust in Monson: he’s a financier with 40 years experience in the industry, currently serving as the Chief Investment Officer of £18 billion investment fund Sarasin and Partners, the same firm he’s worked for since he graduated Oxford University. In 2008, City Wire described him as “one of the industry’s longest continuously serving fund managers.”

They also come from similar backgrounds, being both Eton-educated, and have similar interests: Monson is a trained helicopter pilot, and Harry served as an Apache helicopter co-pilot during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2012.

Harry has called on Monson for many of his pursuits. As well as his role as treasurer, Monson is also a trustee of the Invictus Games Foundation, founded by Harry, and was on the organising committee for its inaugural games, meaning the pair have been close for over a decade.

And he’s been a constant presence for Harry amidst the turmoil within his own family. In 2021, Monson attended the unveiling of a Princess Diana statue at Kensington Palace with Prince Harry and William, when the two brothers were deep in the midst of their feud. This ended up being Harry and William's last engagement together.

As for Monson’s personal life, the city financier is married to Lady Rose Monson, with the pair sharing two daughters, Olivia, 28 and Leonora, 24. Lady Rose doesn’t share her husband’s love of finance, but rather worked as a hospice worker. “Her interests are old people and animals, it creates a nice balance in our relationship,” Guy Monson joked with City Wire in 2008. The pair holiday in Jamaica, where they have a deluxe private villa in the same complex as Ralph Lauren.

According to royal experts, yes. Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail: “This, whatever the logistics, will be widely perceived as a snub. 'This is one of the most public rifts in the world. If it was handled in private without so much press speculation, it would have a better chance of being resolved.”

Another royal expert, Michael Cole, agreed. “It is quite a snub. For the King to not see his younger son, Prince Harry, although the two men will be only two miles apart tomorrow afternoon, gives an indication of the depth of the divide. The Prodigal Son is not welcome — not for the present, anyway. In royal terms, this is big medicine. Prince Harry is bound to see it for what it is, the clearest possible indication of the hurt that has been caused.

“There can be no mistake: this is a royal flea in the ear for the fifth in line to the throne. Actions have consequences but rarely are they played out as starkly as they are here. Even Prince Harry, never the sharpest sword in the Household Cavalry, is bound to have got the message and many people will say, ‘About time too.’”

Prince Harry last saw his father when the news of his cancer diagnosis broke in February, reportedly staying for less than an hour before staying in a hotel and flying back to California the next day.