Prince Harry has been offered accommodation at a royal residence to bring Meghan Markle, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to Britain this summer, reflecting mixed signals for the state of relations between the Sussex family and the Monarchy.
Harry is expected to come to Britain to mark one year to go until the 2027 Invictus Games, his Olympics-style adaptive sports tournament for veterans, which will be hosted in Birmingham, England’s second largest city.
The news last week that Harry would be bringing his wife and children on their first visit to the U.K. since 2022 was quickly followed by further articles, including by the BBC, stating the family has been offered accommodation in a royal residence.
Newsweek has confirmed that accommodation at a residence has indeed been offered, but the palace has not offered additional police protection, as such decisions fall to the Home Office. The British Government does not disclose the police protection arrangements for public figures.
Contrary to some reports, Newsweek has been told by multiple sources that the offer of accommodation has not yet been accepted as plans continue to be finalized.
Newsweek reached out to Buckingham Palace and representatives of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.
Why It Matters
A series of briefings to different outlets over several days led to mixed reporting in the British media, with the news framed positively by some outlets, including The Sun, and more critically by others, including The Times.
Ultimately, the bare facts, stripped of interpretation, offer a tangible benefit to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex if they take up the accommodation. They will be on the inside, in the most literal sense, after years during which the media have described their American lives as a form of “exile.”
Prince Harry and Meghan and the Significance of Royal Residences
Harry will have promotional events in Birmingham in July, marking one year to go before the Invictus Games 2027, as he has done with many past tournaments.
Few details have been made public, though Newsweek has been told to expect to see the prince at a variety of sport-themed fixtures during the visit, which will take up most of a week.
Royal commentators will be looking out for any sign of the Sussex family meeting King Charles III and Queen Camilla, or any other royals, though few hold out hope for a meeting with Prince William and Princess Kate, with whom relations are widely reported to be more strained.
Nothing has been said officially about which royal residence the family has been offered, but some outlets reported it will be an apartment at Buckingham Palace, including USA Today, though the palace has not confirmed the location.
Newsweek has been told the offer was made in line with precedent, and Harry has been offered space at Buckingham Palace before. Whichever residence is to be made available, the offer has not yet been accepted.
One additional symbolic benefit would also come from the simple fact that by giving the family a place to stay inside a royal residence, the palace is signaling that they are still welcome.
While that may seem unremarkable to some, there are many in Britain who retain strong negative views of the couple, as shown in polling by YouGov, whose quarterly data released in April had Meghan liked by 26 percent of British people and disliked by 47 percent. Prince Harry was liked by 25 percent and disliked by 55 percent in the same data.
A royal residence also comes with de facto police protection while they are inside, which may help the Sussex family manage their security during the trip, though it does not completely remove this challenge.
Prince Harry has mounted a sustained legal and public campaign to regain automatic police protection for himself and his family while in the U.K., arguing that private security cannot access vital intelligence or carry firearms.
The dispute centers on a 2020 government decision that downgraded his security after he stepped back from royal duties. Harry has challenged that decision in the courts and spoken about the risks he believes it creates, particularly for Meghan and their children.
The Home Office has defended the current case‑by‑case approach, and Harry has so far been unsuccessful in fully restoring his previous level of protection.
A royal residence provides police protection as long as the family is inside, but does not offer them that security once they leave.
The Implication for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
A palace as high profile as BP, as it is known to royal aides, does have downsides in that there is an increased probability of photographs as they arrive and leave.
If either paparazzi photographers or royal fans were to try to photograph the Sussex children through the car window, that could revive difficult memories for Harry, who has talked about having similar experiences as a child when Princess Diana struggled with media harassment.
Bronte Coy, senior royal and entertainment reporter at news.com.au, broke the story that Harry and Meghan would bring their children with them.
She told Newsweek: “Obviously Harry’s been invited previously to stay at Buckingham Palace. His concerns with it, even just when it was him, was that it’s too high profile, they’ll be spotted coming and going.
“He certainly isn’t going to want to bring his kids into that, as a first option because, these kids haven’t actually been photographed front on.”
The couple’s policy in recent years has been to keep images of their children’s faces out of the public domain, posting photos to Meghan’s Instagram in which their faces are turned away or covered by emojis.
“Obviously, there’s going to be, people wanting to get that shot,” Coy said, “and then it will be worth a bit of money and so those concerns he has, particularly about entrance and exits, you know, that obviously amplifies significantly when you add in Meghan and the kids.”
During Harry and Prince William’s childhood, they might have been subject to paparazzi harassment on a visit as high-profile as this one, even during private time. Holidays at Alpine ski resorts, for example, led to confrontations in which Princess Diana would be filmed pleading for the privacy of her boys.
Much has changed in Britain since, and there are now protections for children under the Human Rights Act, which created a right to privacy even when in public spaces.
When paparazzi images of Archie in public were published previously, Harry and Meghan sued the agency, Splash News and Pictures, at the High Court in London, forcing it into bankruptcy. That will mean publication in Europe is unlikely, though that does not always stop circulation on social media or in international publications.
Another key question is whether Harry and Meghan stick to the policy of obscuring the children’s faces at all. If they choose to waive it, that could open the possibility of Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, attending the Invictus Games events.
If they did, it would represent Lilibet’s first official public event and Archie’s first since he was a baby in 2019, when he accompanied them on a tour to South Africa in the autumn.
One of the only images of Lilibet released by the Sussexes in which her face was fully visible was on her only other visit to Britain, back in June 2022, when it was released to mark her first birthday.
Alternatively, Harry and Meghan may decide they do not believe it is safe for their children to leave the royal residence, which will be guarded by the Metropolitan Police.
In that eventuality, the couple might choose to release photos documenting Archie and Lilibet’s visit and would then decide whether to include the children’s faces or not.
Princess Diana
One downside of Buckingham Palace is that it is around 115 miles, or roughly two hours by train, from Birmingham, the centerpiece of the Invictus promotional events.
Slightly closer is Althorp, the estate of Princess Diana’s family and currently the home of Charles Spencer, Harry’s uncle, less than 50 miles away and around one hour by car.
The prince has taken Meghan there before to view Princess Diana’s grave, which is on an island in the middle of the estate and only accessible by boat.
“Something I found interesting when I spoke to a source close to Harry,” Coy said, “was that there was a heavy emphasis on the fact he wanted to spend time with the wider family.
“I think its quite likely then that he’s going to want to spend time with the Spencers and that throws Althorp Estate into the mix as well, where Harry has stayed previously. You’re looking at a map of Birmingham and London and Althorp is kind of plumped right in the middle there.”
The Daily Mail reported Althorp is due to close to the public for two days in July, which the newspaper suggested marked an unusual move.
Diana would have been 65 on July 1, and a visit to Althorp would be an opportunity for the children to learn about their grandmother and meet her family. Next year will also be the 30th anniversary of her death, in a 1997 Paris car crash, though it may be a difficult subject given their age.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Gray R. Thomas
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.newsweek.com ’
