Prince Harry has said he was grateful to have been able to fly in from the US to visit his father, and hinted King Charles’s cancer diagnosis could heal the rift within the royal family.

In an interview with a US breakfast TV programme on Friday, the Duke of Sussex said his trip to London to see the king could be a step to reunifying his relatives after years of strained relations.

“I love my family. And the fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see [my father] and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America from Whistler, Canada.

The host, Will Reeve, spoke of his own family’s reaction to his father, the late Superman actor Christopher Reeve, being paralysed in 1995. He said: “I’ve also found in my own life that sort of an illness in the family can have a galvanising or a sort of reunifying effect for a family. Is that possible in this case?”

Harry replied: “Absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure. Throughout all these families I see it on a day to day basis, again, the strength of the family unit coming together. I think any illness, any sickness brings families together.”

Prince Harry declined to divulge any information when asked about his outlook on his father’s health, saying: “That stays between me and him.” But he said he would visit him in the future. “I’ve got other trips planned that would take me through the UK or back to the UK, so I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can,” he said.

Asked about his life in the US, and whether he had contemplated becoming a US citizen, the prince said he had considered it. Harry said: “The American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind but certainly not something that’s a high priority for me right now.”

It was Harry’s first interview since the king postponed all public-facing duties because of the diagnosis. He was also expected to discuss his life with the Duchess of Sussex and the Invictus Games during the broadcast.

Harry, who lives in California with his wife and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, flew to the UK last week to see the king. He made the trip less than 24 hours after the public announcement about his father’s health. Meghan and their children remained in California.

There was no meeting with his brother, the Prince of Wales, after Harry’s 45-minute meeting at Clarence House with their father.

King Charles, 75, is staying at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk while receiving treatment. He has handed over public-facing duties to Prince William, but is continuing with official paperwork.

He was diagnosed with an unspecified cancer after receiving unrelated treatment for an enlarged prostate. Later tests identified a different form of cancer. Officials said the king wanted to share his diagnosis to assist public understanding of the disease.

The royals have been beset by health problems this year, with the Princess of Wales treated in hospital for 13 days after undergoing successful abdominal surgery. She is not expected to return to public duties until after Easter, but the exact time of her return was to be determined by medical advice, Kensington Palace said.

Meghan has joined her husband on the trip to Canada as part of a one-year countdown to the 2025 Invictus Games. The Duke of Sussex earlier tried the skeleton bobsled as he joined competitors training for next year’s event.

Harry’s interview took place after a week of announcements from himself and Meghan, with the duchess signing a deal with Lemonada Media to record new podcast shows. The company will distribute Meghan’s previous Archetypes series about female stereotypes, which ran for just one series before a lucrative deal with Spotify ended in 2023.

The couple also relaunched their Archewell website, the name of their foundation, rebranding it the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.