Harry and Meghan to touch down in UK for first time since Jubilee
Harry and Meghan to touch down in UK for first time since Jubilee – but there are ‘no plans’ for them to meet William and Kate despite staying just minutes apart
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will return to the UK for the first time since the Platinum Jubilee in June
- They are expected to arrive as soon as today ahead of a busy week of engagements in London and Dusseldorf
- They have a free day on Wednesday, but are unlikely to meet with Prince William, Kate and their children
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to arrive back in the UK this weekend for the first time since returning for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Harry and Meghan will appear at events in London and Manchester, as well as jetting off to Germany to mark the one year countdown to the Invictus Games.
There are ‘no plans’ for them to meet with William and Kate despite staying just a few hundred feet away from them.
They had been expected to arrive as soon as today and and use their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, as a base.
It is not known if they will visit the Queen in Balmoral, but it is thought unlikely they will bring their children Archie and Lili on the working trip.
Following the breakdown of relationships between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family, it is understood that there are ‘no plans’ for them to make the short 380ft trip to Adelaide Cottage for the brothers to reunite.
Royal sources suggest there are fears the couple may bring a film crew along to the UK as part of their rumoured $100million Netflix deal.
‘Trust, particularly at the moment, is a big issue,’ a well-placed source said.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be staying at their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, just 380ft as the crow flies from the Cambridges’ new home
It is believed Meghan and Harry (left) will use their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, as a base. William and Kate (right) have now moved into Adelaide Cottage, also on the Queen’s Berkshire estate – just a 15-minute walk, or five-minute drive, from Frogmore
Peter Phillips, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Zara Tindall and Mike Tindall, leaving the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul´s Cathedral, on day two of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations
Another said: ‘I really can’t see any progress [in repairing their relationship] until the documentary and book have come out and they see what he has to say.
‘The family have everything to lose and nothing to gain. William is deeply hurt and believes his brother has crossed a line.’
They will head to Manchester on Monday for the One Young World summit, an event which brings together young leaders from more than 190 countries.
Meghan, a counsellor for the organisation, will give the keynote address at the opening ceremony.
They will also meet a group of summit delegates doing ‘outstanding work on gender equality’, One Young World said.
The couple will then head to Dusseldorf on Tuesday for the Invictus Games 2023 One Year to Go event, before returning to the UK for the WellChild Awards in London where Harry will deliver a speech on Thursday.
There are no public plans for the couple on Wednesday, meaning any potential meeting with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge could be held on that day.
William and Kate will be at Windsor all week as George, Charlotte and Louis attend their new school after the family moved into Adelaide Cottage this week. The family will live on the Queen’s Berkshire estate during term-time.
Their visit to the UK will be the first time they have been back in the country since the Jubilee celebrations in early June, when they attended the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
This was also the last time the two couples were in the same country. Kate, 40, saw Meghan at Trooping the Colour, but it is unclear if they ever spoke. Harry and William’s paths didn’t cross.
The brothers spoke briefly at Prince Philip’s funeral last April and last July when they unveiled a statue of their mother, Diana.
It comes just days after Meghan’s wide-ranging interview with The Cut in which she said it takes ‘a lot of effort’ to forgive and hinted that she can ‘say anything’ after not signing any confidentiality agreements with the royals.
In the interview, running to more than 6,000 words, Meghan said that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’ before they stepped down as senior working royals.
Harry and Meghan’s trip falls in the same week the new prime minister is due to be announced and asked to form a government by the Queen.
The monarch will appoint a new prime minister at Balmoral for the first time in her reign.
The 96-year-old, who has faced ongoing mobility issues, traditionally holds audiences with outgoing and incoming premiers at Buckingham Palace.
But Boris Johnson, who will tender his resignation, and the new Conservative Party leader who will be asked to form a government – either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak – will travel to Balmoral Castle for the key audiences on Tuesday.
Security will be at the forefront of Harry’s mind as he travels from his home in California for the high profile appearances.
The duke, who quit as a senior working royal in 2020, is bringing legal action over a decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when in the UK.
This summer he won a bid to bring a High Court claim against the Home Office.
His challenge concerns the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) over his security, after being told he would no longer be given the ‘same degree’ of personal protective security when visiting.
The royal family has been bracing itself for Harry’s forthcoming tell-all book, which he has vowed will be an ‘accurate and wholly truthful’ account of his life.
The memoirs were expected to be published in late 2022 by Penguin Random House but a release date has yet to be confirmed.
There will be concern in royal quarters that the duke will delve into his rift with his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, his troubled relationship with his father, the Prince of Wales, his view of stepmother the Duchess of Cornwall and the turbulent fallout of Megxit.
Harry and Meghan accused the royal family of racism in their controversial Oprah Winfrey interview last year, saying an unnamed royal made a racist remark about their son Archie before he was born, and that the institution failed to help a suicidal Meghan.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (left) with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (right) in 2019
The Queen and Charles, Prince of Wales at Balmoral Cricket Pavilion in Scotland
Although not confirmed, it is thought unlikely the couple will bring Archie and Lili on the working trip.
The youngsters travelled with their parents to the UK for the Platinum Jubilee and Lili celebrated her first birthday at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, but Archie and his younger sister did not attend any public events.
Harry and Meghan kept out of the limelight for the majority of the weekend, with the Queen deciding only working royals should grace the Buckingham Palace balcony during the historic festivities.
The Sussexes renewed their lease on Frogmore Cottage earlier this year.
If Harry and Meghan stay at their UK base, they will be just minutes away from the Cambridges, who are due to have relocated to their new home, Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate.
The location of the Cambridges’ new home raises the chances of a private meeting between Harry, Meghan, William and Kate, despite their troubled history.
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