Justine Parkhurst, an Australian traveler, was flying back to California after attending her grandmother’s funeral when she unexpectedly found herself seated beside the Duke of Sussex.
The flight departed Sydney on April 18 and was bound for Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina. Parkhurst explained that although she was grateful for the upgrade, she was overwhelmed with grief. “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,” she wrote on Facebook.
She initially didn’t realize who was next to her. “I didn’t even notice the person sitting next to me until they were adjusting the seat and getting comfortable. It was Prince Harry.”
A comforting conversation
Parkhurst said she briefly spoke with Harry and shared the reason for her sadness. “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,” she recalled.
According to her, Harry responded in a reassuring way: “He said, ‘She already knows’. I believe he is right, I bet she arranged the whole thing.”