The Duke of Sussex is set to embark on his first significant journey to the UK since the King’s coronation last year.
Prince Harry, aged 39, will participate in a thanksgiving service commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 8th.
However, it remains uncertain whether Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their two children, four-year-old Prince Archie and two-year-old Princess Lilibet, will accompany him to the UK.
The Duchess’s last visit to her husband’s homeland was in September 2022 when the Sussexes attended the One Young World summit in Manchester.
They were scheduled to attend the WellChild Awards but had to cancel their plans following the passing of Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Their visit to the UK was prolonged to allow them to attend the late Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London.
The Telegraph’s Royal Editor Hannah: “There is quite a heavy narrative that Meghan and the children won’t be coming back until they can resolve this security issue to their liking,” she says. “But he [Harry] will certainly be coming and going.”
The Duke initiated legal proceedings against the Home Office regarding the February 2020 decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec).
This decision determined that he should receive a different level of taxpayer-funded protection while in the country. In December, Harry’s legal team submitted an emotional witness statement to the High Court.
In this statement, the Duke elucidated why he and Meghan felt compelled to relocate to the US after stepping back as senior royals in 2020.
The father-of-two wrote: “It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020.
“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. 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.”
Meghan’s participation in a trip to Nigeria in May has been confirmed after she received an invitation from the country’s chief of defence staff. The invitation came following the chief’s meeting with Harry at the Invictus Games Dusseldorf in Germany last September.
