Prince Harry has announced a trip to Toronto this week, just minutes after his estranged brother Prince William completed his first engagement in Brazil. The Duke of Sussex, who has long been criticised for undertaking trips and engagements at the same time as senior members of the Royal Family, is visiting Canada for its annual Remembrance period.

Harry will travel to Toronto, where he will meet with veterans, members of the armed forces community and military charities. The charities include the True Patriot Love Foundation, which invited him to Canada and The Halo Trust.

The Duke’s team have insisted the visit has been months in the planning and holds a special place in his heart.

A spokesperson said: “This visit, months in the planning, marks a return to a city that has a special place in the Duke’s heart, having played host to the Invictus Games back in 2017.”

Harry will attend a lunch with the military charity True Patriot Love Foundation on Wednesday and then a private fundraising function with the Halo Trust in the evening, the same day as William’s Earthshot Prize awards, the cornerstone of his ambitious drive to save the planet.

The next day, November 6, the duke will visit the Veterans Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, one of the largest veteran care facilities in Canada, and then in the evening, attend the 17th annual True Patriot Love National Tribute Dinner in celebration of military members, veterans and their families.

The duke’s spokesperson said: “The events were planned nearly a year ago. The date of the main event, the dinner, is set by the charity, not Prince Harry.

“The period of Remembrancetide traditionally extends from the 1-11 November and has done since 1918, over 100 years. He can’t choose to move those dates.”

They said Harry was “not afforded the same level of security and protection as other “working’ members of the royal family”.

They added: “It means, therefore, that the period of time in which we can release details of events is much more truncated than it is for His Majesty the King or the Prince of Wales.

“We are always guided – as to when we can announce trips like this, by the advice given to us by his private security advisers and the event’s security team. This visit, months in the planning, marks a return to a city that has a special place in the Duke’s heart, having played host to the Invictus Games back in 2017.”

The duke has served in the British Armed Forces for ten years, between 2005 and 2015. He has also carried out two tours in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013.

n 2014, he founded the Invictus Games, a multi-sport event held annually for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel.

Harry has long championed veterans and would annually attend commemorations with the rest of the Royal Family in the UK until his sensational exit in 2020.

Last year, he sent his annual letter to Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a charity based in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, ahead of Remembrance Sunday, and told military children that he understands “perhaps more than most, the weight of losing a parent at a young age”.