Prince Harry is gearing up for a solo trip to the UK next month, leaving Meghan Markle and their children, Archie and Lilibet, back home in the US. This comes after the young ones’ last visit to British soil since attending the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 – an occasion which saw King Charles meet his granddaughter Lilibet for the only time.
Yet it appears further family reunions across the pond are off the cards for now, due to ongoing concerns for their safety on British shores, shared by a friend of the Duke. Speaking to HELLO!, they confided: “Safe visits would enable his children to know his home country and enable him to better support his charities.”
Upon stepping down as a senior Royal and relocating stateside, Harry lost the automatic police protection afforded to members of the Royal Family, prompting requests for security on an individual basis during UK visits. This standoff over safety has inflamed tensions within the already fragile Royal relations.
Close friends of Prince Harry suggest calls to his father about security woes have not been reciprocated, while those in the King’s camp allege it would be “wholly inappropriate” for Charles to get involved in such matters, reports the Mirror.
In a pivotal year, Harry’s legal representatives shared part of his written witness statement relating to his move across the pond. The excerpt they read stated: “The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US.”
He continued, “That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
Harry is set to make an appearance in the High Court at the end of February to present his evidence against News Group Newspapers.