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<\/p>\nWhen the Duke of Sussex last came home in September, there was a spring in his step. Over four days of engagements, the Prince Harry glower, which has often accompanied his rare trips back to the UK, was gone. In its place, smiles, laughter, hugs and handshakes, reminding many what an asset he once was to the monarchy.<\/p>\n
His longed-for reunion with the King over a cup of tea at Clarence House \u2014 their first meeting in more than 18 months \u2014 suggested tentative beginnings of reconciliation. As a friend of Harry\u2019s said of the visit: \u201cHe genuinely loved it. He wants to do more of that. He always loves seeing his father and would love to see him as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be less of a spring in his step when Harry returns in the coming days to face the final round in his long-running battle with the tabloid press, a crusade that has consumed him for years. Alongside public figures including Sir Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Baroness Lawrence, Harry is fighting Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, over historical allegations of phone-hacking and unlawful activities, which ANL strenuously denies.<\/p>\n
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Harry in Nottingham on his last UK visit in September<\/p>\n
PAUL GROVER\/DAILY TELEGRAPH\/PA<\/p>\n
A nine-week trial is scheduled to begin on January 19. Dates for witnesses are being finalised, but Harry is expected to give evidence early on. <\/p>\n
It has not been plain sailing for Harry\u2019s case. In November, Gavin Burrows, a former private investigator<\/a> and previously one of the case\u2019s key witnesses, said that a statement in which he allegedly claimed to have hacked voicemails, tapped landlines and accessed financial and medical information at the request of a Mail on Sunday journalist, was false.<\/p>\n While Harry is not relishing the prospect of giving evidence, sources close to him say he is feeling confident. One said: \u201cIt\u2019s not a nice experience for anyone to find themselves in court. But he sees it as a necessary thing to do for a lot of reasons, a continuation of an ongoing mission, and he\u2019s feeling confident going into it. He just wants to get through it and move on. [He hopes] justice will prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n ANL\u2019s legal team is also feeling bullish, and the gloves will come off in a courtroom showdown that may be uncomfortable viewing behind palace walls.<\/p>\n If Harry were to lose, he would probably face a legal bill in the millions and face public criticism for taking the case to trial.<\/p>\n There is also quiet confidence in Harry\u2019s camp that he will soon have his right to armed police protection when he is in the UK reinstated. After losing a long legal battle with the government last year, he wrote to the home secretary, asking for a full risk assessment to be carried out. Last month, that request was granted and sources are hopeful that the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which makes the final decision on the level of police protection, will agree to the reinstatement.<\/p>\n A friend of Harry\u2019s said: \u201cWe hope common sense prevails. Whether you like Harry or not, he\u2019s the son of the King, brother to the heir and will one day be brother to the King. Those are things he can\u2019t change and the risk doesn\u2019t just stop.\u201d<\/p>\n If the decision, expected soon, goes his way, Harry will turn his mind to when he can finally bring his family back to the UK, having previously said it was not safe to do so without police protection. The Duchess of Sussex has not visited the UK since September 2022 and Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, have not been here since June of that year, when the Sussexes visited for the late Queen\u2019s platinum jubilee celebrations.<\/p>\n Catherine, William, Harry and Meghan at Windsor two days after Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022. Below, meeting members of the public who had gathered outside the castle<\/p>\n CHRIS JACKSON\/GETTY<\/p>\n Despite strained relations between Harry and the royal family, the King misses his California-based grandchildren and the distance pains Harry. With Meghan\u2019s permanent estrangement from her father<\/a>, Thomas Markle, who lives in the Philippines, the children are unlikely to meet their other grandfather.<\/p>\n Harry and Charles will not reunite again this month, because Charles is still expected to be on his winter break in Scotland.<\/p>\n But the prince will return to the UK this summer, for engagements marking one year to go to the Invictus Games in Birmingham in July 2027. He will also attend the WellChild Awards which are held in London each September, and which he always attends. All eyes will be on whether his children accompany him on either trip.<\/p>\n A source said: \u201cThere will be all kinds of considerations, like the children\u2019s school and other commitments. But if the security is sorted, then yes, of course that would open up the door to come back more with his family and bring the family over more. He\u2019s been clear on that.<\/p>\n \u201cHis desire is to show his kids where he grew up and the UK. If security is sorted, he\u2019ll want to sit down and think about what does that look like? How should we show up? We\u2019d all hope for and love that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Harry and Meghan at a Beyonc\u00e9 concert in Los Angeles last year<\/p>\n Those close to the Sussexes dismiss the idea that Meghan will never return to the UK: \u201cI think she would come back with him [and the children],\u201d said a source. \u201cThey love to do stuff as a family whenever they can, and when they do things as a couple philanthropically, they often do take the kids along privately. I can\u2019t see a reason why he\u2019d come over with the kids without her.\u201d<\/p>\n Preparation for the imminent trial has taken up much of the prince\u2019s thoughts in recent months. Last year, there were murmurings of a new commercial venture in the pipeline, billed as a \u201csocial enterprise with a social conscience\u201d, but that idea is no further along.<\/p>\n Reports that Meghan\u2019s As Ever lifestyle range<\/a> of raspberry spreads and ros\u00e9 wines is flying off the shelves, with the duchess said to have shifted more than \u00a326 million of her \u201csignature fruit spread\u201d, means the Sussexes\u2019 coffers should be swelling.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Harry will continue to consider paid offers for speaking events. Freed from the restraints of being a working royal, he was recently paid to make the keynote speech at the Ontario Real Estate Association conference in Toronto.<\/p>\n The trial will force Harry to look back at difficult moments from his often-troubled past, but friends say he is already looking past the courtroom, to a time when he is finally free of litigation. \u201cIt has been a busy few months preparing for the case and he wants to see where the chips fall with the trial and his security,\u201d said one. \u201cThere are a lot of things he\u2019s not looking forward to with the trial. But beyond that, he\u2019s really looking forward to the year ahead, he\u2019s got an exciting programme coming up with all the stuff he loves doing \u2014 lots of work with his patronages.\u201d<\/p>\n The prince, who served in the armed forces for ten years, will also return to Ukraine this year, a country he visited twice last year to support its military and veterans injured and affected by the war with Russia, and there are several other overseas visits scheduled.<\/p>\n Prince Harry will return to Ukraine this year to meet members of the military<\/p>\n YURII KOVALENKO\/REUTERS<\/p>\n Since leaving the royal fold, Harry and Meghan<\/a> have taken the Sussex brand to countries including Colombia and Nigeria, on trips that some royal watchers observe resemble official \u201croyal tours\u201d. Their three-day visit to Nigeria in May 2024, when the red carpet was rolled out for the couple and Meghan spoke of pride in her Nigerian heritage, may have nudged British diplomacy into action.<\/p>\n It can be revealed that the King and Queen will host the president of Nigeria<\/a> on a state visit to the UK in March, the first such visit since 1989.<\/p>\n![\"Catherine,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/f8ab43de-0d66-4784-8fc7-7c5cafa978ef.jpg\")
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