Prince Harry is reconsidering plans to bring Meghan, Archie and Lilibet to the UK next month after his formal request for police protection was rejected — leaving the family's first joint visit to Britain in four years hanging in the balance.
The Duke of Sussex had been planning a five-day trip in early July, timed to mark the year-long countdown to the Invictus Games, which are due to be held in Birmingham next summer. The Duchess of Sussex was scheduled to accompany her husband on public engagements at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham — her first appearance on British soil since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September 2022. Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, were not expected to attend any public events, but their inclusion in the trip carried enormous personal significance: King Charles has not seen his grandchildren in person since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of 2022.
Told on a Friday Night
Details of the trip were announced on Friday evening. Almost immediately afterwards, Harry's team learned that his application for a taxpayer-funded security package had been denied. The decision came from the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures — known as Ravec — which advises the Home Office on protective arrangements for senior royals and public figures.
Harry had been waiting on the outcome of a security review that he was told would take place in March. He was informed last week that the assessment had not happened — and that all such reviews had been "paused". The timing, arriving just days before the family was due to travel, has caused considerable upset within the Sussex camp.
"The Home Office and the Ravec board are wilfully creating conditions that are making it nearly impossible to move the family from A to B. There have been three separate incidents in the UK in less than 12 months, each involving a fixated person getting to within feet of the Duke."
A source close to the Sussexes told The Telegraph that in some of those incidents, private security officers were unable to intervene due to limits on their legal authority. It is the potential impact on the children, rather than on Harry himself, that is driving the concern. "Harry is a big guy, a former soldier and generally pretty robust when it comes to handling these incidents," the source said. "It's what impact such moments would have on the kids that everyone is most concerned about."
A Royal Invitation — and a Complication
King Charles had extended an invitation for the family to stay at a royal residence during the trip — the location of which has not been made public for security reasons. Taxpayer-funded police protection would be available while the family is within that royal estate, but outside of those times Harry would be reliant solely on the private security team that travels with him from California.
A spokesman for the Sussex team confirmed they had accepted the King's offer. Buckingham Palace, however, said it had not received any formal confirmation of that acceptance — a small but telling discrepancy that hints at the wider communication difficulties that have long characterised relations between the two camps.
The Royal Family dimension to this visit is layered. Harry reportedly remains "desperate" for Archie and Lilibet to spend time with their grandfather, whose cancer diagnosis has lent an added urgency to any prospect of family reunion. The King's desire to forge a relationship with his grandchildren is understood to be one of the primary drivers behind the planned trip.
Security Without a Safety Net
Since stepping back from royal duties in 2020 and relocating to Montecito, California, Harry has not been granted automatic police protection on visits to the UK. He is currently required to give 28 days' notice of any planned trip, with security assessed on a case-by-case basis. Last year, he lost a legal challenge seeking to restore regular protective arrangements — a ruling he described as making it unsafe to bring his family back to Britain.
"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 following that ruling. "I love my country, I always have done, despite what some people in the country have done."
A government spokesman said the UK's protective security system remained "rigorous and proportionate", adding that it was long-standing policy not to discuss the specifics of any individual's arrangements.
A final decision on whether Meghan and the children will make the trip is expected within the coming days. For now, the visit that was billed as a potential turning point in the Sussex family's relationship with Britain — and with the King — remains deeply uncertain.
