Why Prince Harry Is Unlikely to Bring Meghan Markle, Kids to U.K.: Expert

Prince Harry will return to the United Kingdom next month, but it is unlikely his wife Meghan Markle will join him.

“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,” The Telegraph’s Royal Editor Hannah Furness said on a Friday, April 26, episode of Hello!’s “A Right Royal Podcast.” “But [Harry] will certainly be coming and going.”

Harry, 39, is set to attend a church service celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 8. Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2, are not expected to join him.

Harry and Meghan, 42, have not traveled to the United Kingdom together since September 2022, when they attended the One Young World summit in Manchester. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were scheduled to attend the WellChild Awards at the time, but those plans changed when Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on September 8 of that year. The couple extended their stay to attend her funeral at Westminster Abbey.

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Earlier this year, Harry lost a legal battle for improved security for himself and his family in the U.K. after the couple stepped back from their senior royal duties in January 2020, which led to a change in Harry’s security level from the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec).

On February 28, Judge Peter Lane of the U.K.’s High Court ruled that the British government can change the level of police protection for royal family members no longer performing official duties. The ruling declared that the change in Harry’s security level was not unfair or irrational.

​​“The Duke of Sussex will appeal today’s judgment which refuses his judicial review claim against the decision-making body Ravec, which includes the Home Office, the Royal Household and the Met Police,” Harry’s legal representation said in a statement at the time. “Although these are not labels used by Ravec, three categories — as revealed during the litigation — comprise the ‘Ravec cohort’: the Role Based Category, the Occasional Category and the Other VIP Category.”

The statement continued: “The Duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of Ravec’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with Ravec’s own written policy.”

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Additionally, the U.K.’s Home Office issued another decision that Harry would not be able to personally fund police protection for his family while traveling in England. (The couple personally fund their own security team in California, where they live.)

“While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family,” read a statement released by the Duke of Sussex in January 2022. The statement added that the family’s personal security “cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK.”

The statement added, “In absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return home.”

In May 2023, a judge in London’s High Court denied Harry’s bid for police protection, arguing that law enforcement officers are not “private bodyguards for the wealthy.” This decision came shortly after Harry and Meghan were involved in a car chase in New York City. The NYPD confirmed in February 2024 that the royals would receive additional security during future trips to the city going forward.

While Meghan will not join Harry for his trip to the U.K. next month, she will travel with him to Nigeria after he returns for talks regarding the Invictus Games.