Prince Harry misses wedding of friend Jack Mann, his ‘unofficial best man’

The Duke of Sussex’s friend married Isabella Clark in Stutton over the weekend

The Duke of Sussex reportedly missed the wedding of his friend Jack Mann, who was an usher at his wedding to Meghan Markle and appeared among his “band of brothers” in a memorable photograph at Windsor Castle.

Some reports speculated earlier this year that Prince Harry would return to the UK to attend Mann’s nuptials to osteopath Isabella Clark, which took place over the weekend in Suffolk.

But according to the Daily Mail, neither Harry nor the Duchess of Sussex were present to see Mann marry Clark at St Peter’s Church in Stutton.

In the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan, a black-and-white photograph of Harry with six of his closest friends on the night of his and Meghan’s 2018 wedding was shown along with a number of other previously unseen images.

Mann was reportedly Harry’s “unofficial best man”, although the official honour went to Harry’s brother William, the Prince of Wales.

The Independent has contacted the Sussexes’ representatives for comment.

Mann served as one of several ushers on Harry and Meghan’s wedding day, alongside another close friend, Charlie van Staubenzee, who is the brother of William’s best friend, Thomas van Straubenzee.

Earlier this year, after the release of Harry and Meghan, a source told the Mail on Sunday: “There have long been rumours in Harry’s circle that there was another best man, in secret. [Prince] William was the public-facing best man but not the sole best man, nor the true best man in Harry’s eyes.”

However, it is unclear if Harry and Mann remain close friends. Earlier this year, Australian journalist Daniela Elser claimed that the duke only kept a small circle of six close friends and therefore does not have many people who can warn him if he is “making bad decisions”.

The duke and Mann, the co-founder of a private security company, first met at Sandhurst where they were commissioned into the Blues and Royals. They served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thomas, who is William’s daughter Princess Charlotte’s godfather, was in attendance at Mann’s wedding over the weekend. He was present with his wife Lucy, who is an assistant headteacher at Charlotte and Prince George’s former school, Thomas’s Battersea.

(Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Mann is the son of former SAS officer Simon Francis Mann, who served in Cyprus, Germany, Norway and Northern Ireland. Simon later co-founded private military company Sandline International, which became controversial after signing a contract with the government of Papua New Guinea in a political scandal that became known as the Sandline affair.

Last year, Mann went on a business trip with his company Alma Risk to Libya that made headlines after it was interrupted and he was held by security officials in Malta.

He told the Daily Mail: “We did not continue the journey from Malta on the advice of Maltese immigration to rectify our paperwork. The issue was resolved within five days.”

Meanwhile, his new bride Clark is the daughter of property developer Stephen Clark.

Harry was last in the UK in early June to give evidence in his lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). He claimed that journalists from the Daily and Sunday Mirror and Sunday People used methods, including phone-hacking, to obtain information about him to be published.

Last week, his lawyers told the High Court that the duke should be awarded up to £320,000 in compensation over the alleged misuse of his private information. MGN have denied unlawful activity and said there is no evidence of phone hacking.

Prior to that, Harry attended the coronation of his father, King Charles III, on 6 May without Meghan or their two children. He was seated in the third row in Westminster Abbey and did not interact publicly with his father or brother. The duke left for Heathrow airport immediately after the ceremony to return to California in order to celebrate his son, Prince Archie’s birthday.

This month, a Palace representative confirmed that Harry and Meghan have officially moved out of their former UK residence, Frogmore Cottage.