Prince Harry to stay at royal residence with family during July UK visit, in sign of thaw with King Charles

A thaw in relations

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their children Archie (7) and Lilibet (5) will be guests of King Charles III at an unspecified royal property when they travel from California next month. During previous solo visits, Harry had declined accommodation on royal estates. A source told AFP the family would split their stay between royal and private residences. The BBC first reported the arrangement, describing it as a signal that the rift between the Sussexes and the wider family may be closing.

The visit and its purpose

The trip is built around the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in Birmingham, which take place in July 2027. Harry founded the competition for wounded veterans in 2014 and remains closely involved. While the prince has said he wants to reconcile with his father, it is not yet clear whether a face-to-face meeting will happen. The last brief encounter between the two was at Clarence House in September 2025, when Harry saw Charles, 77, who is being treated for cancer.

“I can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point and the things they're going to miss is, well, everything.”

Security questions linger

Harry is still fighting a legal battle with the Home Office over the downgrading of his police protection after he stepped back from royal duties in 2020. Last year he lost a Court of Appeal challenge, and the BBC reports that Buckingham Palace has not offered extra security for this visit. The prince has previously told the BBC that bringing his family to the UK safely was "impossible" at the time.

A graveside pilgrimage

The Duke of Sussex also intends to take Archie and Lilibet to the grave of his mother, Princess Diana, at Althorp House in Northamptonshire. It would be the first time the children see the memorial. For King Charles, the stay offers a chance to see his grandchildren in person for the first time since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

A timeline of distance and rapprochement

The couple left Britain for North America in 2020 and later surrendered Frogmore Cottage, their last UK home, in 2023 after the publication of Harry's memoir Spare. Neither Buckingham Palace nor the Sussexes' representatives have commented on the accommodation arrangements, but the invitation to a royal residence is being read by observers as the strongest sign yet of a mending relationship.