Prince Harry is said to have grown further estranged from not only his family but his friends too since moving to California.
Before he stepped back from royal duties in 2020, he was known to have a wide circle of friends from his days at Eton and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
But the prince is now said to be lonely on the other side of the Atlantic, with his best friend now reportedly being his long-time security guard.
However one friend who seems to have stayed close to him is super-private Arthur Landon.
The wealthy model and filmmaker let his royal friend use his house in Los Angeles as a secret base to meet Meghan’s mother for the first time in 2016.
He also has famous lineage, coming from one of Britain’s most storied clans led by his late father Brigadier Timothy Landon who won the nickname ‘the latter-day Lawrence of Arabia’.
Here MailOnline takes you inside the life of one of Harry’s oldest friends – Arthur Landon.
Arthur Landon (pictured at a weigh in for the high-society Boodles Boxing Ball in 2013) is a wealthy model and filmmaker
Arthur (right) attending Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor in 2018, with other close friends Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor (left), and Charlie van Straubenzee (centre)
Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, Harry and Meghan, at an award ceremony in 2023. The trio met for the first time at Arthur Landon’s house in LA
Arhutrwas born in 1981 and went to the catholic private boarding school Ampleforth College in York.
He developed a passion for film and theatre when he was ten years old and started writing plays and acting in amateur theatre productions.
The creative then went on to study film at Bristol University and has since pursued a career as a screenwriter and director.
But the 43-year-old has also dabbled as a fashion model and hosted black-tie shoot dinners for the young royal set, featuring snooker and vodka shots.
And despite his frequent visits to London nightspots such as the now closed Whisky Mist and Boujis. Arthur has also found the time to make advertisements for the preppy outfitters Jack Wills and other film-making projects.
He is the only child of Timothy and his wife, Princess Katalina Marie Esterhazy de Galantha, a member of the Hungarian aristocracy who is, like Arthur, a beneficiary of the family trust.
However it was Arthur who inherited most of his brigadier father Tim’s £200million fortune, plus an enchanting 4,250 acre Faccombe Estate in Hampshire.
He attended both Harry and William’s weddings, but his friendship with the princes made headlines in 2012 when on a trip with Harry to Las Vegas the 27-year-old prince was photographed now-infamously playing strip billiards.
Arthur and Guy Ritchie (R) at the wedding of William and Kate at Westminster Abbey in 2011
Arthur and his then-girlfriend Alessandra Balazs (pictured in 2016) were given prime seating at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in St George’s Chapel in 2018
Arthur (right) at a pool party with friends in New York in July 2016
Arthur (second left) at a Halloween party in West Hollywood in 2022
Outraged over the betrayal of the girl who sold the naked pictures of his friend, Arthur was quoted in the Press as saying she was ‘despicable’.
He said the incident ‘put a real dampener’ on their trip to Sin City and confirmed the culprit was one of 15 bikini-clad women in a VIP suite of the five-star Wynn Hotel.
In photographs seen by more than 40million people around the world, the prince was snapped on a mobile phone wearing nothing but a distinctive necklace giving a topless girl a ‘bear-hug’ with his bottom facing the camera.
Earlier that year Harry reportedly met his girlfriend Cressida Bonas at Arthur’s Faccombe Estate, who he would go on to date until 2014.
But Arthur seemed to grow closer to Harry after he started dating Meghan in the summer of 2016.
In the Harry and Meghan book Finding Freedom, which was written with the duchess’s aides contributing through a third-party friend, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand explain how Arthur had ‘always tried to look out for Harry’.
The book states ‘knowing firsthand what lengths people would go to in order to get a picture of Harry and his personal life’, Arthur had told the prince that the best place he could stay in Los Angeles while visiting with Meghan was his house.
His bohemian-style West Hollywood spread is located in the lowest part of the Hills, with a pool and views of Sunset Boulevard.
Harry tries some rum at a street party in Belmopan, Belize, in March 2012
The five-star Wynn Hotel (pictured) where Harry was pictured playing strip billiards
Arthur was among the hordes of faces at the wedding of Harry and Meghan
Harry and Meghan stayed in Arthur’s house in Los Angeles on their visit to the city so they could keep their relationship hidden from the public
Arthur’s bohemian-style West Hollywood house is located in the lowest part of the Hills, with a pool and views of Sunset Boulevard. Pictured: The Chateau Marmont Hotel on the street
The spot was a prime spot, and private, from which Harry had his first chance to visit Meghan’s native city.
But they had to spend almost the entire time at the house in hiding as the public was not yet aware of their relationship.
It is also the scene where Harry got to spend some quality time with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland who they invited over.
While in Arthur’s house the gang ordered food from Meghan’s favourite local restaurants including Sushi Park, which she said has ‘the most delicious sashimi’.
Following the successful trip Arthur then threw Harry’s renowned pre-wedding stag party at his estate which reportedly included outfitting his indoor tennis court with a mechanical bull and handing out bows and arrows Lord of the Rings style.
He and his then-girlfriend Alessandra Balazs were given front-row seats at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in St George’s Chapel in 2018.
Arthur was used to high society functions after he became one of Britain’s wealthiest young men in 2007 after inheriting his father Timothy’s fortune when he unexpectedly died of lung cancer at the age of 64.
The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills is located just off Sunset Boulevard in LA
Newspaper stories speculated that his father’s wealth outstripped that of Queen Elizabeth and during his funeral at Faccombe, six estate workers were attired in his personal tweeds as they carried his coffin.
A former SAS officer, Timothy made his fortune when he helped his friend from Sandhurst Qaboos bin Said Al Said overthrow his father who was the reigning despot of Oman, then a UK protectorate, in a peaceful coup.
Paid handsomely by Qaboos, Timothy bought the village of Faccombe in Hampshire, plus more than 11,000 acres of grouse moor in Scotland and North Yorkshire.
For his close relationship over the years with the new sultan of Oman, who ruled from 1970 to 2020, Timothy became known as ‘the White Sultan’ or ‘Landon of Arabia’.
With rising oil prices, it’s believed Timothy left around £500million to Arthur, but it’s more likely to have been £200million after tax and any charitable donations.
However, Arthur’s personal life has recently undergone some turbulence.
Last month, the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden reported that he split up with his fiancee, Alessandra Balazs, 35.
Landon’s father Timothy made his fortune when he helped his friend from Sandhurst Qaboos bin Said Al Said (pictured in 1970) overthrow his father who was the reigning despot of Oman
William and Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said meet during a royal visit to Oman in 2019
It was reported last month that Arthur and Alessandra Balazs (pictured in 2016) have split up
‘They parted ways some time ago,’ he was told by a friend.
Alessandra, who now works as a lifestyle brand consultant, is the daughter of Andre Balazs, owner of London’s fashionable Chiltern Firehouse, whose tenth anniversary party this month was attended by Princess Beatrice.
Her mother is former Ford Models boss Katie Ford.
Speaking in 2019, Alessandra, who also worked as a model, said Arthur had grown up since his Vegas days with Harry. ‘Everyone changes,’ she told the Daily Mail Diary. ‘He’s one of the most genuine, honest, kindest human beings to be around.’
The impeccably discreet Arthur declined to comment on the news and remains tight-lipped about his relationship with the prince in California.
