Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may fly Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, to the UK for the Queen’s funeral with their grandmother Doria Ragland after having spent more than a week apart, royal expert claims
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are considering flying their children to the UK
- Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, remain in California with Meghan’s mother Doria
- Sussexes will be staying in Britain until the end of the royal mourning period
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may fly Archie and Lilibet to the UK for the Queen’s funeral, it has been suggested.
The US-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly confirmed they will be staying in Britain until the end of the royal mourning period, which finishes seven days after the service on September 19.
However, the couple’s children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, remain in California with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, 66, and have already spent more than a week apart from their parents, who were coming to the end of a whistlestop tour to Europe when the Queen died on Thursday.
According to The Telegraph, the Sussexes are now trying to work out whether Doria and the children should fly out to the UK.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may fly Archie and Lilibet to the UK for the Queen’s funeral, it has been suggested. The family pictured in 2021
The US-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured in Windsor on Saturday) have reportedly confirmed they will be staying in Britain until the end of the royal mourning period, which finishes seven days after the service on September 19
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess confirmed the couple will stay in the UK for the period of royal mourning, reported The Express.
Meghan and Harry had only expected to be away from their Montecito mansion for seven days for their mini European tour, in which they were supporting various charities close to their hearts.
King Charles says he wants ‘to express my love for Harry and Meghan’ as he extends olive branch to the US-based prince and his wife
King Charles III extended an olive branch to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in his first address to Britain and the world as monarch yesterday.
The new Sovereign, who became King the moment that his mother Queen Elizabeth II passed away on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral Castle aged 96, said he wished to ‘express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas’ – in a move likely to be regarded by royal commentators as a bid to finally draw a line under the tumult of recent years.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plunged the monarchy into crisis during the twilight years of the Queen’s reign after sensationally quitting frontline royal duties and moving to California two years ago – a saga which precipitated the rift between Harry and his brother William, allegations of racism against the royals and claims the Firm failed to help a suicidal Meghan.
After their bombshell interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Harry appeared to suggest, in a mental health podcast, that his father and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had all failed as parents – while the family was still mourning Prince Philip’s death last year.
The Duke of Sussex had grief etched on his face as he was swept into the grounds of Windsor Castle this afternoon after losing a race against time to get to his grandmother’s bedside before she died yesterday.
King Charles III went to Buckingham Palace to meet fellow mourners this afternoon where he shook hands and accepted their condolences to cries of ‘God save the King’ and impromptu renditions of the national anthem. One woman kissed him on the cheek. He also inspected flowers and tributes left for his late mother at the gates before entering the palace.
Harry landed at Heathrow yesterday lunchtime after jumping on an early morning BA flight where he comforted an airport worker with a reassuring hand on her shoulder after she gave him her condolences.
He left Balmoral after 12 hours mourning his grandmother with his father and brother – but despite the brevity of the visit, the Sussexes are not expected to return to California until after the state funeral, currently expected to be ten days from now on Monday, September 19.
The Duke of Sussex was the last royal to arrive at the Aberdeenshire castle on Thursday and the first to leave on Friday morning.
However, the Queen’s death at Balmoral on Thursday, aged 96, pushed them to extend their stay in the UK.
The Duke and Duchess had been due to attend an awards show in London on Thursday night, but they cancelled their appearance as Harry, alongside other royals, raced to be by his grandmother’s side after doctors said they were ‘concerned for her health’.
Prince William had flown up on a RAF jet with Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie. But it is understood that they did not reach the Scottish estate before the Queen passed. Initial reports had said his younger brother would also be on board.
But instead Harry was in mid air when Buckingham Palace announced the death of his beloved grandmother. He flew by private jet from Luton Airport, arriving at Balmoral an hour and a half after the historic statement.
Courtiers issued the declaration at 6.30pm – just over an hour after Prince William and other senior royals had arrived to join Charles III at the Queen’s residence. Liz Truss was told at around 4.30pm, Downing Street said.
On Saturday evening, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Meghan and Harry made a surprise appearance together at Windsor Castle to inspect the sea of floral tributes laid outside the gates of the Berkshire estate in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The reunion marks the first time that the two couples have all appeared in public since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, just weeks before the Covid lockdown.
Harry and Meghan, who quit frontline duties two years ago to strike out on their own in California and then levied a series of bombshell allegations against The Firm, held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on Meghan’s back.
They were seen pointing at different tributes and discussing them as members of the crowd waved at them.
One well-wisher who spoke to Harry and Meghan told MailOnline: ‘It’s lovely to see them both together. Maybe they can get back to a proper relationship.
‘Lovely ripple went through the crowd as they approached. Hopefully the healing between Harry and his brother can start now. I’m just so excited to have seen them both together. It’s lovely.’
Another mourner said: ‘We couldn’t believe it when the gates opened, and we saw William and Harry walk down with Meghan and Kate. I’ll be honest there was a little bit of a groan when Harry and Meghan came down our side, but I passed him a bunch of flowers and he was happy to take them.
‘I’m pleased that they came out together and as a family I’m delighted that they all took the time to come and say hello to the crowds. Sad things like funerals bring families together so I hope that when they get back to California they think long and hard about everything that’s happened.’
Harry only took place after an extended negotiation which delayed the Sussexes arrival by at least 45 minutes.
Royal sources say William attempted to bury the hatchet by extending an ’11th-hour olive branch’ to his younger brother Harry, by asking him to join him on a walkabout outside Windsor Castle following a phone call with his father Charles III.
In a scene that clearly delighted royal fans, who had come in their hundreds to the gates of the Windsor estate to mourn the Queen’s death, William and Harry walked out side-by-side with wives Kate and Meghan.
The ‘fab four’ reunited at Windsor to mourn the death of The Queen; it was the first time the couples have been together in public since March 2020
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex view the tributes left after the death of Queen Elizabeth II
Last night, a Kensington Palace spokesman said that the Prince of Wales had invited the Sussexes to join him and the Princess of Wales during yesterday evening’s walkabout.
However, according to The Times, the camps required extended negotiations beforehand which delayed their arrival by 45 minutes.
A senior Palace source said: ‘The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier. The Prince of Wales thought it was an important show of unity for the Queen at an incredibly difficult time for the family.’
Experts predict the moment could provide a turning point in the frayed relationship between newly-titled Waleses, and the Sussexes, who have been at odds following a series of damaging interviews by Harry and Meghan.
The Montecito-based Sussexes were consequently in the UK on a pseudo royal tour when the Queen’s health suddenly deteriorated on Thursday.
Harmony? The Princes appeared to have put their troubles to one side to honour the Queen’s memory
It is believed the Sussexes had not previously made any plans to meet with the Waleses, despite staying in Frogmore Cottage, just 700 yards from William and Kate’s Adelaide Cottage. However both William and Harry raced to Balmoral on Thursday after it became clear the Queen’s health was faltering.
The Sussexes’ friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie later claimed on Twitter that the invitation was made at the ’11th hour’.
However, hinting that William is prepared to extend Harry an olive branch and work towards melting the ice between them, he declared: ‘It is, without a doubt, a significant moment in the history of the relationship between the two brothers’.
Meghan Markle cancels Jimmy Fallon appearance and trip to NYC for UN General Assembly – both scheduled for day after Queen’s funeral – and postpones next Archetype podcast
Meghan Markle has canceled several planned appearances in New York that had been set for the day after Queen Elizabeth’s likely funeral date, as the Royal Family enters the official morning for the monarch.
The Duchess of Sussex had been scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on September 20, the same day she and Prince Harry planned to visit the UN General Assembly in Manhattan.
Both appearances have now been nixed, and Meghan plans to delay releasing the next episode of her podcast Archetypes, which had been set for release next Tuesday on Spotify, sources told Page Six on Friday.
By happenstance, the Queen’s death on Thursday came as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in the midst of a European tour on a public relations blitz.
Meghan Markle is seen in Germany on Tuesday
Meghan had been scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (above) on September 20, which would be one day after the Queen’s funeral, but has pulled out
Queen Elizabeth is seen on Tuesday, in the final photo before her passing on Thursday
Now, their plans have understandably been put on hold as they mourn leading up to and following the Queen’s state funeral.
The funeral is expected to be scheduled for September 19 at Westminster Abbey in London, but the official date has not yet been announced.
It’s unclear whether Meghan has already booked another date to appear on The Tonight Show.
‘I don’t even know what she was going to talk about [with Fallon], but that’s obviously cancelled now,’ one source told Page Six.
A spokeswoman for the NBC program did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seen making an appearance in Dusseldorf, German on Tuesday, in the midst of the European tour cut short by the Queen’s death
Prince Harry returns to Windsor on Friday morning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were together in Frogmore Cottage in Windsor when the Queen’s failing health became apparent, but Prince Harry flew alone to Scotland, where she was staying at Balmoral.
Prince Harry arrived after the Queen’s death had been publicly announced, and returned to Windsor on Friday morning.
Understandably, all members of the Royal Family have suspended and altered any plans for public appearances as the UK enters a highly choreographed, weeks-long morning period.
In his first public address as the country’s new monarch, King Charles III gave the order that a period of ‘Royal Mourning’ for the Queen will be observed from now until seven days after her funeral.
King Charles III gave the order that a period of ‘Royal Mourning’ for the Queen will be observed from now until seven days after her funeral
Royal Mourning will be observed by members of the royal family, royal household staff and representatives of the royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to ceremonial duties.
On Friday, royal salutes were fired with one round for every year of the Queen’s life at 1pm in Hyde Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
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