Prince Harry is expected to visit the UK again in September for the annual WellChild Awards in London – and it could be that he gets the opportunity to stay at Buckingham Palace
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King Charles with his youngest son Prince Harry (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in a matter of weeks – and it’s believed the King will offer him a room at Buckingham Palace.
The reported invitation comes after the Prince was not able to say at the Palace during the recent visit to his homeland earlier this month.
The Duke of Sussex’s spokesman had said he would be staying at the Palace, but just minutes later, royal sources hit back and clarified that Harry’s request to stay there had been refused after leaving it too late to accept the offer.
But despite the chaotic start to his trip at the beginning of July for events to promote the Invictus Games, he did manage to reunite with his father Charles as well as stepmother Queen Camilla at Highgrove with wife Meghan and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
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Harry did not stay at Buckingham Palace on his last UK trip(Image: Shutterstock)
Now with Harry expected to be back in the UK in September to attend the annual WellChild Awards in London, The Sun reports that he will be offered a place to stay at the Palace once again – although The Mirror understands it is not yet known if Harry would accept the ‘olive branch’.
It is unclear if Meghan and the children will accompany the Duke to the UK on his upcoming trip – although in previous years he has always travelled back to London solo for the awards. The Mirror has contacted Harry’s office for comment.
Last month, Harry was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after announcing his whole family would accompany him on his UK trip, following a letter from the Home Office saying that they would not be granted taxpayer funded security during their stay.
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Meghan shared a photo of Harry, Archie and Lilibet visiting Althorp(Image: Meghan/Instagram)
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Meghan shared 12 photos from the family’s trip to Portugal and the UKÂ (Image: Meghan/Instagram)
His family did not join him on the London leg of the visit – although they did later join him for their meeting with the King. Just last week, Meghan shared a series of snaps from their time in the UK, which included a visit to the stately home where the late Princess Diana is buried.
It came as she posted a series of snaps to her 4.7million Instagram followers with the caption ‘Summer Holiday’, with the carousel of 12 pictures including several taken at the Northamptonshire estate, now run by Harry’s uncle and Diana’s younger brother, Earl Spencer.
In one picture, Lilibet, five, is seen walking through the home’s famous tree-lined gardens, while Harry and seven-year-old Archie walk ahead carrying bouquets of flowers.
Diana, the grandmother Harry’s children never got to meet following her untimely death aged 36 in 1997, is buried on an island in the middle of the Oval Lake at Althorp, which is inaccessible to the public but can be visited by family.
In his memoir Spare, Harry talks about visiting his mother’s final resting place and taking Meghan there for the first time on the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death.
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Meghan shared the holiday snaps with her 4.7million Instagram followers (Image: Meghan/Instagram)
When Harry and Meghan stepped down as working members of the royal family and Harry was told at the time he would lose the automatic right to police security. He now must give a month’s notice ahead of every visit to Britain, and the risk will be evaluated before his security is granted.
On each return to the UK, Harry has been declined full protection. He also lost a court battle against the Home Office in May last year.
And it has now emerged that the Duke will have to wait for a decision on his security arrangements in the UK as officials deal with protecting nine ex-Prime Ministers.
He had been told he would be granted a risk management board at the end of 2025 that would reassess if he should be given automatic protection each time he visits the UK. The review had been due to be carried out in March by an independent body, but it has yet to take place.
It has since emerged that the backlog is in part due to a struggle to cover high-level security for politicians, including nine ex Prime Ministers. In order to cope with demand, a temporary pause was ordered for about four months by officials.