Harry is still on good terms with his Spencer relatives, particularly his aunts Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale, and the Sussexes are expected to stay for part of their trip at Althorp House, the family estate of Diana, Princess of Wales, in Northamptonshire. There, they could visit the grave of Prince Harry’s late mother.
At one time, there were suggestions that the children may even join a public activity. “I’d love for them to experience the Invictus spirit first-hand one day,” Harry said last year, in reference to the sports tournament he founded for sick and wounded military personnel.
That seems unlikely now, insiders say. The children, said to be excited about a summer holiday which is already underway in mainland Europe, will likely stay out of the spotlight.
Whether they arrive or not at all depends on whether Harry can come to terms with his current security arrangements – or persuade his father to intervene, which he constitutionally cannot do.
With three days to go until the first public event of his trip, there is no confirmation of plans. Buckingham Palace is said to be none-the-wiser about the finer points of any stay or arrangements to see the King, despite a channel of communication with the Sussexes’ team remaining open. Aides, it is said, are both “wary” and “weary” of the visit already.
“No-one quite knows why it needs to be this hard,” said a source familiar with both camps, suggesting that any such family meet-up did not need to be part of a very public tour. “They could just come quietly and tell people it had happened afterwards – or not at all.”
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said: “I’d like to think that the children are not a bargaining chip in any negotiations Harry may or may not have been having.”
The King “must surely be keen to see the children, particularly after a four-year break and the health issues that have plagued him for half of that time,” he added.
The Sussexes now have no meaningful relationship with the Wales family, however. Prince William will not see his brother while they are on the same side of the Atlantic, nor are the child cousins expected to meet. “It hurt,” says a friend simply, of Harry’s multiple accusations about the Prince and Princess of Wales over the years.
Royal sources are at pains to point out that a private, personal meeting between King and his grandchildren would have no ramifications for the Sussexes’ role. They are no longer working members of the family, and there are no plans to change this. “There is still no half-in, half-out,” says one. “It’s what they agreed with the late Queen.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
