Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are yet to respond to King Charles’s offer of royal accommodation for their stay in the UK next month, it has been reported.
The Sussexes are to return to the UK with their children, Prince Archie, now seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, for the first time in four years in July, as Harry headlines the Invictus Games’ “One Year To Go” ceremony in Birmingham.
But there have been significant hurdles – namely, security.
Harry lost his automatic right to 24/7 armed police protection in 2020, after the duke and duchess stood back as working members of the Royal Family. He subsequently sued the Home Office, arguing that they acted unlawfully in their decision, but ultimately lost.
Last year, after he lost his court battle for security, Harry told the BBC: “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
It is said that adequate security measures have been confirmed for the Sussexes’ upcoming visit, however.
The next question then became: Where? The Sussexes are believed to have been offered royal accommodation for their stay.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are yet to respond to King Charles’s offer of royal accommodation for their stay in the UK next month, it has been reported
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PA
Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Windsor Castle, and even Frogmore Cottage, the couple’s former residence before their move to California in 2020, are all said to have been considered.
However, according to the Daily Mail, the couple have not yet responded to this offer.
Harry has previously declined similar offers of accommodation.
The couple have been tipped to stay at Althorp House, the ancestral home of Prince Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Princess Diana was laid to rest at Althorp, the Northamptonshire estate ran by her brother, Earl Spencer | GETTY
The estate, which is Diana’s resting place, is only an hour’s drive away from Birmingham, making the location a logical choice.
The website for the stately home confirms that Althorp House will be closed between July 10 and July 11.
According to Hello!, the residence has been offered to Harry and Meghan, though the couple have also not yet decided whether to stay there.
While a decision on both accommodation and security is expected “soon”, the Sussexes are coming to town – and the King is reportedly looking forward to the reunion.
Prince William however, looks increasingly unlikely to extend an olive branch to his estranged younger sibling.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams revealed to GB News last week that William was left “deeply betrayed” by Harry’s actions and is “unlikely” to meet him.
It means a meeting between Archie and Lilibet and their transatlantic cousins, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight, seems to be off the table.