A woman returning home after burying her grandmother has revealed her encounter with Prince Harry on the commercial flight home.
Justine Parkhurst was in tears on the plane from Sydney as she grieved her grandma, whose funeral she had just attended, when she noticed the Duke of Sussex was sat next to her.
Harry, 41, then offered the stranger words of comfort mid-air.
Justine said: “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. He said, ‘She already knows’. I believe he is right, I bet she arranged the whole thing.”
It was only by huge fate Justine was on the flight on Saturday, April 18, 2026, as she and her husband were booked for Friday’s journey, but made a late switch. They were then also bumped up to the first-class cabin on the American Airlines twin-jet Boeing 777-300ER, the section in which Harry and Meghan Markle were travelling after their Australian tour.
But following her conversation with the prince, Justine believes her grandmother is looking down on her and arranged the chance meeting.
She added: “My husband and I got super lucky and were upgraded to first class. While waiting to board… I will tell you that he (Harry) was very nice and so was his wife. They were sweet to everyone and each other.”
Posting on Facebook about the encounter, Justine said: “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.
“I didn’t even notice the person sitting next to me until they were adjusting the seat and getting comfortable. It was Prince Harry. His wife was across from him and their security guards right behind them.”
Meghan, it is understood, sat across the aisle from Harry in a single pod. It left Harry in a middle‑aisle seat, which meant he was next to Justine. She was heading back to her home in North Carolina, via Los Angeles, following the trip to Australia, where her grandmother resided.