A windswept Meghan Markle was spotted disembarking a private jet which brought her home to California, after she left Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Canada.

The Duchess, in a blue jumper with white letters, was unaccompanied except by a security guard as she stepped off the plush transport inside a hangar at Santa Barbara Airport on Tuesday evening.

Meghan flew back to be with their children at their home in Montecito after spending five days in Vancouver and the ski resort of Whistler.

Aides said the trip home was pre-planned and Meghan had only intended to stay for five days as she had at the 2023 event in Germany.

Following his wife’s departure the Prince has reportedly taken a day off to relax, and ‘unwind’.

Prince Harry will be spending Valentine’s Day apart from his wife after she returned alone to the couple’s £12million home in Montecito, California, to see their children Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.

Harry, meanwhile, will stay in Canada to watch the rest of the tournament for injured service personnel and veterans, which will end with Sunday’s closing ceremony.

While this means the couple will be apart on Valentine’s Day this Friday, aides said that Meghan had always planned to leave and let Harry attend the remaining events solo.

Meghan’s luggage off-loaded from jet after landing at Santa Barbara

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Plans were not given in advance for security reasons, and a source close to the couple said: ‘This was always planned. Meghan is going home to be with her children.

‘Meghan left the Games in Dusseldorf early after five days to go home. This is Prince Harry’s event and she is there to support him, but this was planned.’

It comes after Meghan was said to have told fans at a wheelchair basketball game in Vancouver on Sunday that she was missing her children.

Harry gushes about having Meghan ‘at his side’… as he has a day off hours after she jetted home

In a recent Instagram post the Duchess of Sussex showed she is supporting Harry from afar and said she is ‘cheering him on from home’.

In the background were gifts for the children with their names on as mementos from the Games. 

Harry spoke to their favourite US based magazine ‘People’ to talk about Invictus and the impact it has on people’s lives.

He also touched how he talks about the limbless military veterans to his son Archie, five.

Harry was glowing in his praise for Meghan who took centre stage with her public displays of affection at the opening ceremony in front of 40,000 people in Vancouver.

She was seen planting a kiss on Harry and resting her head on his shoulder.

He said: ‘To have my wife here supporting me is amazing. I love that she’s by my side.

‘It’s such an important piece to this whole adventure.’

Harry told People he is already looking forward to the 2027 games being held in Birmingham.

‘It’s amazing how, after 10 years, we’re still doing this. We will continue the Games for as long as it’s needed – and the need is increasing rather than reducing.

‘So the fact that there will be a full cycle back to the U.K. is a place that I never thought we would be,’ he said.

The first Invictus Games were held in London in 2014.

Harry gushes about having Meghan ‘at his side’… as he has a day off hours after she jetted home

‘I wish that we could close this down because there wasn’t a need for it, but as long as there’s a need for it, we will keep it going,’ he said.

‘I know the U.K. is looking forward to having the Games back to where it started.’

With Meghan now back in California, Harry is said to be taking the day to enjoy the up-market resort at his own pace.

He is an avid skier and will had a taste of what is on offer when he went tubing on Blackcomb Mountain with Meghan and Whistler Mountain where he presented medals in the adaptive alpine skiing event.

Aides are not releasing details of Harry’s plans for his final day in Whistler before returning to Vancouver for the climax of the games with finals and the closing ceremony.

In his autobiography he confessed that he always felt guilty for enjoying ski trips with his father, Prince Charles, because his mother, Princess Diana, didn’t like them.

He wrote in ‘Spare’ that he felt like a ‘bad son’ for having fun on these trips. 

Meghan Markle to leave Invictus Games with duchess flying back to California to ‘see her children’

Harry is due to attend three events and brave freezing temperatures of up to -11 in Canada.

The Prince proved he does not need Meghan to pull a crowd of fans as he was mobbed when he arrived for an Invictus Games ceremony on Whistler mountain previously.

Fans jostled to get close to Harry and take a photo as he made his way up the slopes in bright sunshine.

His bodyguard Chris Sanchez, a former US Presidential Secret Service agent, struggled to help Harry through the crowds.

It was Harry’s first solo appearance at the games as Meghan is returning to California to be with her children Archie and Lilibet.