Prince Harry told he replied too late to stay at Buckingham Palace amid confusion over UK visit

London — 

Prince Harry will not be able to stay at Buckingham Palace when he visits London this week, despite his team appearing to confirm earlier Monday that he had accepted an invitation to stay there.

The Duke of Sussex had not provided a formal response to King Charles’ offer of royal accommodation by the required deadline, which was at the end of last week, a royal source said.

There has been confusion and contradictions in the lead up to the visit over accommodation arrangements for the Sussex family.

The offer for a royal residence for the family was initially turned down on Saturday, before a subsequent request for the duke by himself was received, according to the royal source. However, at that point, it was too late to make arrangements for the appropriate hospitality and staffing, which was communicated to the duke.

It is understood that the palace needs a minimum level of notice to ensure a guest can be hosted and supported by staff at a royal residence.

Prince Harry had hoped to bring his wife Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, but they will no longer be joining him while he’s in London, as the disagreement over his family’s police protection continues. While they are staying stateside for now, a final decision hasn’t been made on whether they’ll join the duke later in the trip.

There were also concerns about the duke staying at a royal residence when the judgment in his legal battle against Associated Newspapers Limited is expected to be published on Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex and six other household names in Britain sued the publisher of the Daily Mail in 2022 over phone hacking, tapping and a slew of alleged unlawful information gathering practices dating back years.

A spokesman for the duke gave a different account regarding the offer of accommodation, saying that Harry had accepted the invitation for himself over the weekend but that it had been rescinded.

The spokesman said that the duke had made alternative security arrangements in the past week after his team were told that taxpayer-funded police protection would not be offered during the visit.

“Once those arrangements were in place, he was able to formally accept the offer of accommodation for himself over the weekend,” his spokesman said. “It is therefore disappointing that the offer has now been withdrawn, with Tuesday’s judgment in the Associated Newspapers Limited case cited as the reason.”

The spokesman added: “Buckingham Palace has, however, been aware of that judgment since last Thursday. It is therefore unclear why, having formally accepted the accommodation offer, it has now been withdrawn at the last moment.”

Earlier Monday, multiple British media outlets reported that Harry had accepted an invitation to stay at the palace, citing the duke’s spokesman.

Prince Harry is returning to the United Kingdom this week to mark the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style sporting competition for injured servicemen and veterans he set up more than a decade ago, as well as carry out several other charity engagements.

Prince Harry has been embroiled in a years-long disagreement with the UK government after his security was downgraded by its Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) when he and Meghan stepped down from his royal duties in 2020.

Last year, he lost a challenge against the Home Office in the UK Court of Appeal on the decision. He has since been waiting on a review by RAVEC’s Risk Management Board, which has not yet taken place.

A UK government spokesperson previously described its protective security system as “rigorous and proportionate.”

There has been hope that the trip this week would allow for King Charles to reunite with his young grandchildren. Charles last saw the whole family while they were in the UK four years ago for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

In the years since, Harry has made several quick trips back to the UK, most notably attending his grandmother’s funeral in 2022 and his father’s coronation in 2023. The duke last saw his father in September when the pair had tea at Clarence House in London.