‘Frenzy’ expected as Prince Harry mulls family trip to UK for first time in years

Prince Harry says he is still trying to bring his family to Britain next week, despite concerns of a “frenzy” as paparazzi attempt to snap rare photographs of his children.

The Duke of Sussex, his wife Meghan, and their two children had planned to travel to the United Kingdom together for the first time in four years, but are reconsidering the trip amid security concerns.

Their request for taxpayer-funded police protection was rejected by British authorities, although a representative of the Sussex family said the prince “continues to explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the UK”.

Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, four, live in California. They have been offered accommodation on a royal estate during the visit, which comes with existing security. However, the issue is how to protect the family when they go elsewhere.

“I think there’s going to be a huge anticipation to see Harry and Meghan, especially Meghan, back on British soil with the children,” royal commentator Afua Hagan told the ABC.

“There will be a frenzy of: Where are they landing? Where are they going first? Where are the staying? What will they be doing while they’re here?”

Ms Hagan said paparazzi would be “desperate” to capture images of the children’s faces, which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have always tried to shield from public view.

The Duchess of Sussex’s social media accounts feature many photographs of Archie and Lilibet from behind.

“There definitely will be a frenzy to see them, to see Harry, and Meghan, and to see the four of them and to get those first pictures of Harry’s children, Princess Diana’s grandchildren,” Ms Hagan said.

Just over a year ago, when the duke lost a legal challenge for guaranteed security protection while he is in the UK, he made his feelings about future visits to his home country clear.

“I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” he told the BBC in May 2025.

His visit next week is timed around commitments as founder of the Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel and veterans held every two years.

Sydney hosted the event in 2018, and next year, it is set to take place in Birmingham.

“This opportunity has arisen around the one year to go until the Invictus Games, and I think he’s taken that as a sign that he should bring his family to the UK so they can try and perhaps build some bridges,” Ms Hagan said.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have had strained relations with the royal family.

In 2020 the couple announced they would be stepping back from their roles as working royals and moving to the United States.

They gave an interview to veteran broadcaster Oprah Winfrey the following year, in which Prince Harry and Meghan accused the royal family of institutional racism.

The release of Prince Harry’s autobiography in 2023, which included claims of a physical altercation with his brother in 2019, was also regarded as driving a wedge between the Sussexes, and other royals.

Harry ‘wants to work towards reconciliation’, says royal commentator

Next week’s visit would be the first time Prince Harry’s father King Charles III has seen his grandchildren since June 2022, during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations.

The king last saw Meghan at  Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022.

It’s understood Prince Harry has not seen or spoken to his brother Prince William since then.

Last year, the duke met with his father, who is currently being treated for cancer, at Clarence House in London for about 50 minutes.

“I think [Harry] is just very aware that life is too short, that he wants to work towards a reconciliation with his father and wants to have a better relationship,” Ms Hagan said.

Speculation is growing among the British media about whether the Sussexes will meet with estranged relatives on this visit. Tabloid hate and online disinformation about Meghan, including some pitting her against her sister-in-law, is also increasing.

Royal author Catherine Mayer told the ABC that as she researched her latest book, Divide & Rule, about royal women, she discovered a wide “disinformation campaign” about both women.

“What is happening there is not that these are people who are trying to attack those women specifically, but they’re using the heat around them, the debate, their real fans pitted against each other, to destroy or undermine people’s sense of what’s true,” Ms Mayer said.

“There’s all sorts of deep fake material out there, particularly on TikTok, but on other platforms.

“There are state actors like China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, who are involved in these campaigns using troll farms.”

Ms Hagan said she hoped as Meghan prepared to return to the UK, she could block out the hate.

“There has been really unnecessary visceral hatred directed at Megan, so I hope that she [has] just got the blinkers on and that she doesn’t let the relentless, and they will be relentless, headlines get to her,” Ms Hagan said.