Meghan Markle flashes a smile as she breaks cover near her $14m Montecito home as Prince Harry flies home from London after meeting with King Charles amid his cancer diagnosis

Meghan Markle smiled as she drove around near her $14 million Montecito home as she waited for Prince Harry to return from his meeting with his cancer-stricken father, King Charles.

The Duchess of Sussex appeared relaxed behind the wheel of her Range Rover on the roads in the Los Angeles area, where she was spotted on Wednesday. Wearing a baseball cap and dark, oversized sunglasses, Meghan sipped from a coffee mug as she drove along.

Her appearance on Wednesday marked the first time she had been photographed publicly since Prince Harry left for London to visit his ailing father.

The prince embarked on a trip to visit King Charles following the monarch’s shock diagnosis of cancer. Harry is said to have been with his father and Queen Camilla for just 45 minutes before returning.

Charles is said to have been unhappy as he ‘sat on his heels’ waiting for Harry to arrive, postponing his journey to the ‘peace of Norfolk’ for ‘peace and quiet’.

Harry’s visit did not include a meeting with his estranged brother and heir apparent, Prince William, or his wife Kate Middleton, who is recovering from surgery. Both Meghan and Harry have disappeared from monarchy life since the couple stepped down from their royal roles.

The Duchess was out and about as she waited for her husband, Prince Harry, to return from London, where he was visiting his cancer-stricken father, King Charles.

The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, is greeted in the Windsor Suite at London Heathrow Airport after arriving to see his ailing father

After meeting his son, King Charles left Clarence House with Queen Camilla yesterday

The king is taking a step back from his royal duties while he is treated for an unspecified form of cancer. Harry’s brief visit to Charles did not include meeting his estranged brother, Prince William

Duke, 39, arrived at Heathrow just before 2pm – and if he is on board British Airways Flight 269, which departs at 3.05pm, he will be back in Los Angeles around 6.30pm local time.

He traveled without his two young children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two.

Notably absent from the reunion was his brother Prince William, and there are no signs that tensions between the two have subsided since Harry and Meghan decided to step back from their senior royal duties in 2020.

‘William showed today that he has rejected Harry, that he doesn’t want to know him and that he probably doesn’t even like him anymore. Harry is just not part of his life,” royal expert Jennie Bond told DailyMail.com.

“That rift is so deep now, as evidenced by the fact that Harry is here and they don’t meet, so deep that I really wonder if it can ever be repaired.”

In addition to dealing with his father’s health problems, William also cares for his wife Kate as she recovers from abdominal surgery.

Expert Richard Fitzwilliams suggested that the fact that Prince Harry made the trip at all gives hope for reconciliation.

He told MailOnline: ‘The whole situation has changed because of cancer. The fact that the king has been diagnosed with something that millions know is life-threatening has changed the entire relationship between the royal family and the Sussexes.

“The only way a family can fight cancer is by coming together.

‘Much has been made of the length of Harry’s visit and how quickly he left, but that is not the point. The point is that Harry came – and Charles shared the diagnosis with him. What he wanted was to show support, it’s a completely new situation.

The meeting between Harry and Charles was their first formal meeting in person since the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. The prince attended Charles’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in May last year but was not seen interacting with the newly crowned king and queen.

The Duchess looked relaxed in a cap and sunglasses as she kept one hand on the steering wheel as she drank from a coffee mug

It is believed that Prince Harry would return to LA around 6:30 PM local time

Meghan is said to have been at home with the couple’s children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, while Harry was in Britain.

Harry’s visit to his father lasted only about 45 minutes, according to reports

The quick visit did not include a reunion with his brother Prince William, with the rift between the two since Harry stepped down from outstanding royal duties.

While Harry was in London, Meghan was thought to be at home in Montecito with her children, while virtually all of Southern California was under flash flood warnings and watches.

The historic Pineapple Express weather system dumped a record amount of rain on parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides lined with million-dollar homes.

The storm is causing chaos in several regions, including star-studded Beverly Hills, Malibu and the Sussexes’ Montecito neighborhood.

Harry and Meghan, George Clooney, Lady Gaga and Halle Berry are among the celebrities whose multi-million dollar mansions are threatened by the severe storms.

The Sussexes’ $14.65 million Montecito mansion was under a “flood watch” warning for 28 hours while their surrounding county, Santa Barbara, was inundated with inches of rain on Monday.