Prince Harry's 'second father Mark Dyer knows Duke needs support he expected from King Charles'

Prince Harry was supported by his "second dad" Mark Dyer at an Invictus Games event last night after being snubbed by the Royal Family.

The pair were at St Paul's Cathedral, London, for a service of thanksgiving to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Invictus Games. Harry sat next to Mark inside the cathedral, with the pair sharing a close relationship following the death of Harry's mum Princess Diana.

Royal expert Tom Quinn believes Mark's decision to support Harry in London comes as he felt the Duke of Sussex "needs a lot more support" than the Royal Family are prepared to give. Speaking to The Mirror, Tom said: "Knowing his brother and father would boycott the St Paul's service for the Invictus Games, Harry made sure well in advance, that he was not going to be entirely alone.

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"At the service he sat next to Mark Dyer a retired Welsh Guards officer who was a key figure in William and Harry's lives after the death of their mother. Dyer was the only strong male presence in the boys' lives while their father concentrated on his royal duties and on rehabilitating Camilla.

"Dyer gets on with both brothers but has a soft spot for Harry who he feels is misunderstood by his family and needs a lot more support than they were ever prepared or able to give." Tom said it's "really significant" that Mark chose to reunite with Harry when the Royal Family didn't.

However, he suggested the reunion was risky. "Dyer is taking a risk filling in for them as William and his father will see Dyer's presence at the event as very publicly taking sides," Tom explained.

The expert added: "Mark Dyer doesn't make judgements about these things – he simply sees a young man who has lost a great deal in choosing to leave the royal family and needs the support of someone who can give the kind of advice Harry might've expected from his father.

"Mark Dyer is to Harry what Lord Mountbatten was to King Charles: a second father. The boys, but especially Harry, loved his strength of character and decisiveness.

"Where King Charles was always filed with doubt about his abilities as a parent and unsure how to behave towards the boys, Dyer was always 'fierce, but fair' as the boys themselves agreed." Mark acted as a mentor to Harry and his brother Prince William after their mother's death in 1997. Writing in his memoir Spare, Harry admitted he was initially mesmerised by Mark, who had the same ginger hair he did.

"I was a ginger, self-conscious about it, but Marko was an extreme ginger and owned it. I gawped at him and thought: teach me to be like that," he wrote.

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