The Duke and Duchess have not brought their children to the UK since Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022. Photo / Instagram
Prince Harry and Meghan have been offered accommodation and security provision by the King in a move that signalled a clear desire to be reunited with his young grandchildren.
Prince Harry had long planned to travel back to the UK to attend events marking the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games 2027 in Birmingham.
But his decision to bring Meghan, as well as Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, was made only recently following assurances from Buckingham Palace.
The invitation to stay within the security cordon of a royal residence meant the Duke felt confident enough to bring his wife and children back for the first time in four years.
He is said to be looking forward to introducing them to family and friends, as well as aspects of royal and British culture they do not experience growing up in Montecito, California.
He had previously said that without adequate, state-backed protection, they would not be safe, and that he could not risk putting them “in danger”.
The Duke was offered accommodation at Buckingham Palace in 2024 but turned it down because he did not have police protection. The entrances and exits to the palace are so exposed that he believed he would be a “sitting duck”.
This time, however, the palace is understood to have given assurances that the family will also receive “safe and secure passage” in and out of the residence.
The full extent of that provision is not yet known. The Duke has not heard back from the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), the Home Office committee responsible for such decisions, despite sharing his travel plans within the allotted time frame.
Buckingham Palace sources insisted that security was a matter solely for Ravec.
The Duke will attend several events promoting the one-year countdown to Invictus, as well as some involving his remaining patronages, including WellChild and Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
The Duchess’ attendance at the Invictus events has not been confirmed. However, she has been a staunch supporter of the initiative since making her first official appearance alongside the Duke at the 2017 Games in Toronto, regularly addressing the athletes and cheering them on from the stands.
It is not known whether the children will be seen at any official events. The Duke and Duchess have long protected their privacy but are aware they cannot do so forever.
Meghan’s increasingly regular Instagram posts featuring the children are always carefully shot to ensure their faces are hidden.
In Dusseldorf in 2023, the Duchess said: “We can’t wait to one day be able to bring our kids also so they can experience just how amazing this is.”
In Canada in 2025, the Duke, too, said he would “love” his children to “experience the Invictus spirit first-hand one day”, although he acknowledged that they were still young.
Archie and Lilibet last saw the King when they flew over for Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
The Duke and Duchess returned without the children in September 2022, a visit that coincided with the death of Elizabeth II. At the time, they still had possession of Frogmore Cottage, the marital home in the grounds of the Windsor estate.
Since then, whenever Harry has returned alone, he is believed to have stayed in hotels or with friends.
He is currently the subject of a “bespoke” arrangement that requires him to give Ravec 30 days’ notice of any planned visit to the UK and his schedule.
The committee, composed of representatives from the royal household, the Metropolitan Police, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Foreign Office, then decides what protection, if any, he should have.
Previously, the protection offered has often amounted to little more than a contact number for a liaison officer.
The Duke lost a legal battle against the Home Office last year over his right to be guaranteed police protection, and has since pursued the matter behind closed doors.
In December, he was granted the full risk assessment for which he had fought for years, and which has now been completed. Ravec has not yet informed him of the outcome.
Civil servants from the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Foreign Office are understood to fear that granting the Sussexes the automatic right to police protection carries too much political risk.
They fear a public backlash if they reverse the current position.
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