Prince Harry’s relationship with his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, has fractured ahead of the Sussexes’ planned return to Britain with their children, a source has claimed.
The Duke of Sussex is said to have “very few friends left from before”.
The insider claimed: “Harry and Meghan are not so close to Beatrice and Eugenie anymore, and Harry did not see Eugenie over the summer in Portugal.
“Beatrice and Eugenie are not even in touch – and Eugenie was once so close to him.”
Prince Harry’s relationship with his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, has fractured ahead of the Sussexes’ planned return to Britain with their children, a source has claimed
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INSTAGRAM/@PRINCESSEUGENIE
The claim is striking given that the York sisters were previously considered among the Sussexes’ closest family allies. The source warned that the couple will need to “make some serious social inroads and gatherings to get back in the fold.”
Eugenie was once among the closest royals to the Sussexes, featuring as the only family member in their 2022 Netflix documentary series. She was also one of the first relatives to visit the couple in California and spent time with them during their trips back to Britain.
Jack Brooksbank and Eugenie even spent time in Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes’ former UK base, after the birth of their first child, August, in 2021.
Both couples own properties in Portugal, yet sources told Hello! they failed to meet when Harry and Meghan visited the country in July, just weeks before Eugenie gave birth to her third child, Adelaide Brooksbank.
The Sussexes will not resume duties as working royals upon their return, with no ‘half in, half out’ arrangement on offer
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“They didn’t even see each other when they were over in Portugal recently, probably because Eugenie was so heavily pregnant, but it’s a real difference to how close they used to be,” the source claimed.
In 2023, both Beatrice and Eugenie were photographed leaving a Notting Hill pub after dining with Piers Morgan, a well-known Sussex critic, fuelling speculation about a widening rift with Harry.
Despite the estrangement from his cousins, Harry retains several longstanding friendships in Britain. The Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, has been a lifelong companion to both Harry and Prince William, though Harry was notably absent from the duke’s 2024 wedding to Olivia Henson.
Childhood friends Charles and Thomas van Straubenzee, who served as ushers at the Sussexes’ 2018 wedding, remain part of Harry’s circle. Guy Pelly, a companion from Harry’s younger years, was seen alongside King Charles during his US state visit in May and reportedly visited the couple after they relocated to California in 2020.
Princess Eugenie made cameo appearances in Meghan and Harry’s Netflix series, pictured here with Prince Archie
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Mark Dyer, a former equerry to the King often described as Harry’s “second dad,” is also expected to welcome the family back. Harry is godfather to Mr Dyer’s son Jasper.
Meghan maintains her own British connections, including designer Misha Nonoo and PR professional Isabel May.
The Sussexes will not resume duties as working royals upon their return, with no “half in, half out” arrangement on offer. Their status remains unchanged from when they stepped back in 2020.
The couple are understood to have secured a non-royal residence outside London and have already placed Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, in British schools.
King Charles was informed of the move last Sunday and is said to be looking forward to spending more time with the family.
The planned relocation comes six years after the couple initially left for the United States, and with Harry still not on speaking terms with his elder brother, Prince William.
The King reunited with the Sussexes at Highgrove in Gloucestershire last month, marking the first occasion in four years that he had seen his grandchildren on Harry’s side of the family.
The visit appeared to signal a warming in relations between the monarch and his younger son.