london —
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are expected to stay at the royal residence next month during their first visit to the UK in four years, and are expected to get close to other members of the royal family.
According to CNN, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be accompanied by their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, and this will be their first family trip to the UK since 2022, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
A palace source previously told CNN that the Sussexes had been offered accommodation on the royal grounds in case of a potential visit, but this is the first time the family has accepted an invitation.
CNN understands that the family plans to stay in both royal residences and private accommodation during the trip.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan took the shocking step of stepping back from royal life in 2020, choosing to move their family from England to California to pursue a life of “financial independence.”
The departure sparked a long, public rift with the royal family, with the couple saying in television interviews and in Harry’s memoir that tabloid intrusion, complicated family relationships and deep racism within the British system were key factors in their decision to leave.
Prince Harry has visited the UK several times, and Meghan attended Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022. Prince Harry attended his father Charles III’s coronation in 2023.
The prince was reunited with his father for the first time in 19 months in September last year, when Prince Charles and Prince Harry enjoyed a private tea at Clarence House. The face-to-face meeting comes as King Charles is undergoing treatment for cancer, sparking speculation that the royal family’s long-standing feud could end. Although the two have reportedly stayed in touch since then, Prince Harry still appears to be estranged from his younger brother Prince William.
Most recently, Prince Harry and his colleagues returned to London in January to attend court as part of a lawsuit they have brought against the Daily Mail publisher over allegations of illegal intelligence gathering and phone hacking.
“I can’t see a world in which I could bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point in time,” the prince told the BBC last year, after the Home Office lifted taxpayer-funded security measures for Prince Harry upon his retirement from royal duties. Safety measures for the family’s future travel have not been made public, but the family will be protected by existing safety measures during their royal stay.
The July trip will mark the year leading up to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, a sporting competition for military personnel injured in the line of duty that Prince Harry founded more than a decade ago.
He plans to do other activities in Midland related to other causes he supports. The visit will begin with an Invictus-related event in London, which Meghan will also be attending. Their children are not expected to attend public events, and details of their private time are not shared.
