Prince Harry gifts his memoir Spare to air steward as thanks after flight to LA

The duke flew from London following his court case against The Mirror’s publisher

The Duke of Sussex left a surprise gift for an air steward as a thank-you for a pleasant flight to the US.

The flight attendant, Holden Pattern, shared a photograph of him and Prince Harry on an American Airlines plane via his Instagram Stories on Friday (9 June). He captioned it: “Passenger prince.”

In the image, Pattern beams as Harry puts his arm around him, wearing a plain black T-shirt and blue jeans.

It comes after the duke returned to the US after giving evidence at his High Court phone hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in London last week.

It is understood that Harry did not see his father, King Charles III, or his brother, the Prince of Wales, during his brief trip here.

However, he made Pattern’s day after he left a thank-you gift in the form of his controversial memoir, Spare, for the air steward.

In another photo shared on Instagram Stories, Pattern showed followers a snap of a business class seat with Harry’s book placed on the table.

He wrote: “Just found this in my luggage that a passenger gave to me.”

American Airlines flight attendant Holden Pattern shares a photograph of a gift left for him by Prince Harry (Holden Pattern/Instagram)

Pattern did not offer any further details about the flight that carried Harry home after presenting his testimonial in court.

Harry flew to the UK from Los Angeles overnight last Sunday (4 June) after celebrating his daughter Princess Lilibet’s second birthday. He missed the opening day of his claim against MGN in court, earning him rebuke from the judge.

The prince, alongside a number of other celebrities, is accusing the publisher of the Daily Mirror of using unlawful information-gathering, including phone hacking, to uncover details about his personal life.

During his testimony this week, Harry blamed the “prying eyes of the tabloids” for causing his relationship with former girlfriend Chelsy Davy to end.

He also said the alleged unlawful information-gathering led him to lose friendships due to the “huge amount of paranoia” the press intrusion caused.

Harry’s memoir Spare, which was released in January, contains a number of explosive claims about the royal family, particularly around its relationship with the UK press.

The book became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK since records began in 1998.