Prince Harry faces royal drama during return home
USA TODAY’s royal correspondent Jennifer Hassan provides an update on Prince Harry’s return to London amid confusion over his stay at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children have reportedly been reunited with their grandfathers King Charles and Queen Camilla for the first time in four years.
According to the BBC, the royal couple hosted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, on Friday, July 10.
Buckingham Palace confirmed to the media that the family gathered at Camilla and Charles’ private residence, Highgrove House, in Gloucestershire, England.
The reunion marks a significant moment for the royal family after Prince Harry, 41, and Duchess Meghan, 44, stepped down from senior royal roles, in part due to serious security concerns they had expressed over the years since moving to California in 2020.
USA TODAY has reached out to the palace and representatives for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for comment.
The relationship between the Sussexes and the royal family has been rocky over the past six years. Prior to this visit, the king had not seen his grandson for four years, and Meghan’s last visit to the country was for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022.
Since then, Prince Harry has only met his brother Prince William a few times. The last time he visited his father, the king, was in September.
USA TODAY previously confirmed that Meghan will not attend any public events after British media outlets, including The Telegraph, reported that she and her children were traveling to the UK. A representative for the Sussexes told USA TODAY at the time that the remaining travel arrangements were still under consideration.
This comes after the duke’s team announced on July 4 that Meghan would not be joining Prince Harry on the London portion of his trip, citing safety concerns. When Prince Harry left his role as a working royal, he and his immediate family became ineligible for taxpayer-funded protection.
Prince Harry’s UK visit is filled with royal family drama and secret questions
Prince Harry arrived in the UK alone on July 6, but was told he could not stay at Buckingham Palace because the deadline for accepting accommodation offers had passed. The next day, he lost a privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Still, Prince Harry continued his duties in London before heading north to Birmingham, where he appeared on July 10 to promote next year’s Invictus Games, an international sporting event for disabled and retired military personnel that Prince Harry founded in 2014.
He spoke about the event and his family in an interview with British broadcaster ITV, with host Alison Hammond saying: “Honestly, your children and Meghan must be so proud of you. Do they tell you that every day?”
“They don’t say they’re proud of me every day, but yeah, I’m proud of them. They’re proud of me,” Harry replied, adding, “I love my family so much.”
