LONDON, June 29 — Prince Harry fears King Charles could miss a rare chance to reunite with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet after uncertainty over security arrangements cast doubt over the Sussex family’s planned visit to the UK next month.
According to The Guardian, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been preparing to travel to the UK with their two children for events linked to the Invictus Games, which are due to be held in Birmingham in July.
The visit would have marked Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, returning to the UK for the first time as a family in four years and offered what was expected to be a long-awaited reunion with their grandfather.
However, those plans now appear to be in jeopardy after the government declined Harry’s request for police protection outside royal residences, prompting fresh concerns over the family’s safety while in the UK.
A source close to Harry told The Guardian that the duke was “distraught” by the development and would not expose his children to the risk of being pursued by photographers.
“Their plans to see family, friends and visit various charitable causes close to the duke’s heart have been pulled out from under their feet at the 11th hour,” the source was quoted as saying.
“He’s looking at every option to try and get the family here safely and keep them safe when they’re on the ground. If he can find a way to do that he will.
“The hope is they can meet their grandfather, but there is no way that can happen if they are chased by paparazzi wherever they go from the moment they step off the plane. He won’t put his children through that.”
If the visit does not go ahead, it would mean King Charles has still not seen his youngest grandchildren in person since 2022, when the Sussexes returned to Britain for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Harry has repeatedly argued that he cannot safely bring Meghan and their children to the UK without adequate security.
Last year, he lost a legal challenge against the Home Office over the removal of his automatic police protection after stepping back from royal duties. He was later granted a fresh risk assessment and had been awaiting a final decision from the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), the body responsible for determining protective security arrangements.
Ravec operates independently and includes representatives from the Royal Household, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Metropolitan Police. The Home Secretary does not play a role in individual decisions.
Responding to the latest developments, a UK government spokesman said: “The UK government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our longstanding policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”
The uncertainty comes against the backdrop of what has been described as a gradual thaw in relations between Harry and his father.
Harry met the King at Clarence House in London last September, their first face-to-face meeting since February 2024, in what was widely seen as a step towards repairing their fractured relationship.
According to The Guardian, a Los Angeles-based business associate of Harry and Meghan also told The Telegraph there had been “a warming of the frost” between father and son following years of public tensions stemming from Harry’s memoir Spare and a series of high-profile television interviews.
