Meghan Markle has not returned to the UK since she and Prince Harry stepped back from royal duty in 2020.
Meghan Markle is unlikely to return to the UK with Harry next week, an expert has said(Image: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in just a few days for several engagements including attending the 2025 Wellchild Awards. But it seems unlikely that his wife, Meghan Markle, will be joining him for the trip.
Meghan last visited the UK in 2022, and it’s believed that one of the reasons she hasn’t returned since is to stay at home in Montecito, California with their children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four.
However, Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams suggests there may be another reason for her absence from British soil. While is not confirmed that Meghan won’t be accompanying Harry on Monday, September 8, Mr Fitzwilliams believes it’s unlikely due to her lack of popularity in Britain and her relief at leaving the country in 2020.
This is when the pair stepped back from Royal duties.
In a conversation with the Express, Mr Fitzwilliams said: “Meghan almost certainly will not come to Britain with Prince Harry next week.”
He added: “It has been clear for years that she was only too relieved to leave Britain as life as a senior working royal proved highly stressful and unsatisfactory for her,” reports the Express.
Harry and Meghan were last together in the UK in 2022 for the late Queen’s funeral(Image: Phil Noble – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“Since she left, the Sussexes have ruthlessly monetised their royal connections and have done enormous harm to the Royal Family.
“The latest YouGov poll shows her popularity is 21 per cent and those against are 59 per cent.”
He also suggested that it would be “insane” for the duchess to attend, particularly as Harry might be meeting his father King Charles for the first time in months.
Should it proceed, this encounter will mark the first time Harry and the monarch have seen each other since February 2024, amidst rumours of a recent rocky relationship between the two.
“Given the sensitivity over a possible meeting with the King and what that might lead to, it would be nothing short of insane for her (Meghan) to accompany Harry,” Mr Fitzwilliams added.
Harry is returning to his home country for the 2025 Wellchild Awards – a charity he is a patron of(Image: Getty)
When Harry, 40, is in the UK, he is set to show his support for BBC Children in Need and revisit a community recording studio in Nottingham.
It remains up in the air whether the duke, who no longer speaks to his brother, the Prince of Wales, and has a troubled relationship with his father, the King, will stage a meeting with them during his stay.
The King, who is currently at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, and the Queen have no public engagements planned for this week.
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The duke was last in the UK in April for a court hearing about his security arrangements. He lost his Court of Appeal challenge in May and said he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back”.
He failed in his appeal against the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office, over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.