Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly not anticipated to visit the Queen at Balmoral when they visit the UK next month amid an ongoing row about their security with the Home Office.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who last went to Balmoral in 2018, are said to not be planning to attend the Scottish Highlands estate where Her Majesty, 96, is currently likely to remain for the next few weeks as concerns grow over her mobility issues.
The Telegraph understands the couple are still waiting on decisions around their security while in the UK before they decide if they travel off schedule. A Home Office panel is also set to decide whether they qualify for protection by the Met Police.
On September 5, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will travel from their home in California to visit Manchester for the One Young World Summit, where Meghan will give the keynote address at the opening ceremony.
The couple will then head to Germany for an event to commemorate a year until the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf on September 6, before returning to the UK for the WellChild Awards in London on September 8 where Prince Harry – a long-term patron of the charity – will deliver a speech.
It is believed their Wednesday and Thursday is then not taken up with any engagements, meaning they could go and visit family.
But it is believed that like when the US-based couple were in the UK in June, when they kept a low profile, they will spend much of their time at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. Harry, 37, last saw his Grandmother during her Platinum Jubilee, where he reportedly only had around 15 minutes with her.
They also visited in April, when they secretly met with Prince Charles and the Queen on their way to the Netherlands.
After this trip, the Duke spoke about ensuring his grandmother has ‘the right people around her’ when he appeared to make a swipe at royal household staff during an interview with NBC including the so-called ‘men in grey suits’ who advise the Queen.
This latest news comes as warring brothers Prince William and Prince Harry will reportedly not mark the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death on Wednesday together – neither in public or private.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not anticpated to visit the Queen at Balmoral when they visit the UK next month amid an ongoing row about their security with the Home Office
The Queen (pictured in June) is also ‘carefully considering’ whether she is fit enough to attend the Braemar Games next weekend as concerns grow over her mobility issues, The Mail on Sunday understands
It is undertsood the Duke and Duchess of Sussex couple are still waiting on decisions around their security while in the UK before they decide if they travel off schedule to places like Balmoral Castle (pictured), the Royals’ Scottish home
A source added that in the past fortnight, Her Majesty has been delighted to receive ‘family visitors’ at her Scottish estate with ‘lots of the great-grandchildren’. Pictured: The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland, arrives at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, to attend a Sunday church service last week
Her Majesty, 96, (pictured The Duke of Buccleuch and Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland in June) is currently said to remain at Balmoral as concerns grow over her mobility issues
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who last went to Balmoral in 2018 (pictured together that year at Edinburgh Castle during their first official joint visit to Scotland), are said to not be planning to attend the Scottish Highlands estate
The Highland Games, which are often attended by the Queen and the Prime Minister of the day, are usually a highlight in the monarch’s calendar
The Queen is believed to spend the months of August and September at her highland retreat, where she will be joined by other family members, including William, Kate and their kids, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four.
Balmoral has had a number of adaptations in recent years, including her Craigowan Lodge, which was fitted with a wheelchair-friendly lift in 2021.
The castle was bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852 for £32,000, and it has been the Scottish home of the royal family since. She usually arrives at the estate in mid-July.
The Queen is also ‘carefully considering’ whether she is fit enough to attend the Braemar Games next weekend as concerns grow over her mobility issues, The Mail on Sunday understands.
The Highland Games, which are often attended by the Queen and the Prime Minister of the day, are usually a highlight in the monarch’s calendar.
This year’s competition – which will see contestants battle it out in caber-tossing and tug-of-war in front of spectators – is the first to be held since the start of the pandemic.
A source revealed that the Queen is keen to attend if her health will allow it. She was last seen in public on July 21, when she flew to Aberdeen Airport to begin her annual holiday at Balmoral.
The source added that in the past fortnight, Her Majesty has been delighted to receive ‘family visitors’ at her Scottish estate with ‘lots of the great-grandchildren’.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their children Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte headed up last week, while the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children Lady Louise and Viscount James have also been to visit.
It is also said that the Prince of Wales is visiting the Queen daily.
Prince Andrew had also been in Balmoral, keen to speak to the Queen about whether it is possible for him to carve out a new working role within the Royal Family, according to the source.
Another source added that there had been ‘a change in the past few weeks’ in the Queen’s mobility, which meant that she was ‘resting’ a lot more.
The 96-year-old is likely to concede that she will no longer be able to fly down to London to appoint a new Prime Minister. It had been hoped the Queen would head to Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace to fulfil what is known as her ‘personal prerogative’ – to invite a new leader to form a government.
But her health on recent days ‘may make it unlikely’, according to a well-placed source. The decision will be announced this week.
The nine-mile trip to Braemar for next weekend’s games, however, may yet be possible.
The Queen is ‘carefully considering’ whether she is fit enough to attend the Braemar Games next weekend as concerns grow over her mobility issues
Queen Victoria began the Royal tradition of attending the Braemar Games in 1848. It has been continued by the Queen, who has rarely missed the event. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the games in 2008
Her Majesty asked the couple and their two children, three-year-old Archie and Lilibet, one, to stay at her Scottish residence and told royal staff to prepare, it was reported in July.
It was said that the Sussexes would not have to spend time with other royals such as Charles and William.
A Balmoral insider previously told The Sun and Page Six: ‘Staff have been told to expect the full list of royals including Harry, Meghan and their children. They are preparing for the Sussexes.’
Another sources is reported to have said: ‘I would be stunned if they did turn up.’
But since then, The Telegraph said on Sunday that sources say a visit to the Queen is not anticipated but there may well be more unplanned engagements.
Speaking of meeting his grandmother at Windsor Castle in April, Harry said: ‘It was great. It was really nice to see her in some element of privacy. Being with her it was great, it was just so nice to see her, she’s on great form.
‘She’s always got a great sense of humour with me and I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her. Both Meghan and I had tea with her, so it was really nice to catch up with her. We have a really special relationship, we talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else.’
Royal author Tom Bower told MailOnline then that he believed the comment by Harry was directed at Sir Edward in addition to the Duke’s father Prince Charles and brother Prince William with whom he has an ongoing feud.
The Duke of Sussex appeared to issue a veiled warning to those closest to the Queen during the interview shown on NBC in April, saying he wanted to make sure his grandmother was ‘protected’ and had ‘the right people around her’
The Queen stands on the Buckingham Palace balcony in London in July 2018 along with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Mr Bower, who wrote the recently published, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors. The Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller Tom Bower, told MailOnline: ‘On ‘protecting’ the Queen, he is not only targeting Charles and William but also Edward Young her private secretary. Harry’s full demands have been rebuffed and he is hitting out at those standing in the way of promoting the Sussex’s self-promotion.
‘To enhance his credibility in America and for Netflix he needs to pretend that he has a special relationship with the Queen. I don’t believe the British public would tolerate Harry and Meghan on the balcony. Allowing them there would be self-destructive for the monarchy. That’s why I don’t believe they will come.’
There were also some less serious suggestions, with the Telegraph’s royal expert Camilla Tominey saying a palace observer joked Harry might think the ‘right kind of people’ would be his friends Oprah Winfrey as the ‘new press secretary’, Ellen DeGeneres as ‘head of personal protection’ and Sir Elton John as the new ‘Mistress of the Robes’.
Meanwhile the Duke of Cambridge, 40, and the Duke of Sussex have agreed to end public commemorations and will instead remember their mother with their own families this week.
The pair have not spoken face-to-face since they unveiled a statue of their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales last summer.
They put their strained relationship aside briefly for the unveiling of the highly anticipated statue in her memory in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, her former London home.
In 2017, William and Harry marked the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death by creating a memorial garden at Kensington Palace, taking part in a documentary and loaning belongings to an exhibition.
Wednesday will be the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death, but the brothers will grieve privately to ark the poignant occasion, The Telegraph reports.
But Prince Harry said this week: ‘I want it to be a day filled with memories of her incredible work and love for the way she did it.
‘I want it to be a day to share the spirit of my mum with my family, with my children, who I wish could have met her. Every day, I hope to do her proud.’
The Duke of Cambridge, 40, and the Duke of Sussex, 37, have agreed to end public commemorations
Diana with her William (left) and Harry (right) attending the Heads of State VE Remembrance Service in Hyde Park on May 7, 1995, in London
BFM TV displays emails – disclosed as part of the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy claim against the Mail on Sunday – in an investigative documentary series called ‘Red Line: William and Harry, the enemy brothers’. It claims that traumatised staff resigned from the Royal Household and set up a WhatsApp group called ‘The Sussex Survivors’ Club’. Pictured: Harry and Meghan and William and Kate stand side by side in 2018
Prince Harry (pictured here with wife Meghan Markle) ‘slammed the phone down’ on Prince William after being confronted with witness statements portraying Meghan Markle as a vicious bully of female staff, according to a new investigation
In turn, William (pictured speaking to a charity boss over the phone in 2020) – ‘who already didn’t like his sister-in-law very much’ – became so angry at his brother’s insistence on protecting his wife from criticism that he jumped in a car ‘towards Kensington Palace to go and confront Prince Harry’
Meanwhile, the Duke of Cambridge and his family, meanwhile, are moving from Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage – just a ten-minute walk from Windsor Castle, later this month.
If the Sussexes stay at their home, Frogmore Cottage, will only be a short five-minute walk from the Cambridges, who will be just 800m away when they relocate to Adelaide in the next few weeks.
It will be the first time the two couples have been neighbours since Prince Harry and Meghan moved out of Kensington Palace in 2019.
But a source reportedly said the Sussexes’s visit will be focused on ‘supporting several charities close to their hearts’, and they have no plans to see the Cambridges.
It comes as a French documentary has claimed Harry ‘slammed the phone down’ on Prince William after being confronted with witness statements portraying Meghan Markle as a vicious bully of female staff.
In turn, William – ‘who already didn’t like his sister-in-law very much’ – became so angry at his brother’s insistence on protecting his wife from criticism that he jumped in a car ‘towards Kensington Palace to go and confront Prince Harry’.
The explosive claims are contained in a documentary by the most popular TV news outlet in France.
BFM TV displays emails – disclosed as part of the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy claim against the Mail on Sunday – in an investigative documentary series called ‘Red Line: William and Harry, the enemy brothers’.
It claims that traumatised staff resigned from the Royal Household and set up a WhatsApp group called ‘The Sussex Survivors’ Club’.
The documentary is timed to come out next week.
Diana died in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36 – when William was 15 and Harry 12.
While both understand the historical significance of the anniversary, and the fact that many around the world are keen to mark the occasion, it is a much more personal landmark for them.
Friends say they both still feel intense sadness that their mother has been longer out of their lives than in them, and that she has missed seeing the birth of her first grandchildren.
Will Prince Harry’s ‘tell-all’ book be delayed until next year? Rumours swirl that the hotly-awaited memoir’s release date is ‘up in the air’
By Niamh Lynch for the Daily Mail
Prince Harry’s highly-anticipated memoir may not be published until next year, it was reported yesterday.
The Duke of Sussex’s tell-all book had been due out in time for Christmas, but it is claimed the release date is now ‘up in the air’.
A source told US celebrity gossip website Page Six that industry experts had expected a November publication date.
They said: ‘I have heard that Harry has some truth bombs in his book that he is debating on whether to include or not.
‘So this [delay] is no surprise if he needs more time to work on the book.’
Publisher Penguin Random House announced last year it would bring out Harry’s ‘literary memoir’ in late 2022.
It said he would be sharing for the first time the ‘definitive account’ of his life. It had been feared by Buckingham Palace that Harry, 37, would use the memoir to settle old scores.
Prince Harry leaves after attending a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral after returning to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Ghost writer JR Moehringer is said to have finished the manuscript, with the book passing all ‘legal processes’. Penguin Random House was unavailable for comment last night.
But nothing has been heard officially since the initial announcement, leading to much speculation in the publishing industry.
The memoir is not available for pre-sales on Amazon or other sites – an important marker for the publishing industry on a book’s future success.
Previous reports suggested that Harry’s book release could be brought forward to October to avoid a potentially embarrassing launch-date clash with former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Mrs Obama announced in July she is bringing out a follow-up to her autobiography Becoming, one of the best-selling books of all time.
The delay in publishing comes after Harry’s wife Meghan released the first episode of her Archetypes podcast on Tuesday two years after signing an £18million podcast project with audio giant Spotify.
Meghan interviews tennis legend and her close friend Serena Williams in the episode where she recounted her horror when a small ‘fire’ broke out in son Archie’s room during a tour of South Africa with Prince Harry.
Archie, then four months old, was not in the room when a heater began to smoke but the incident left the duchess ‘shaken’ and ‘in tears.
Despite the upset, Meghan said she was forced to continue with official engagements, accusing those running the tour of concentrating on ‘how it looks, instead of how it feels’.
In the podcast series, Archetypes, she also took aim at those who described her as ‘ambitious’ when she started dating Prince Harry.
In the episode, titled The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams, she told her friend of the ‘misconception that if you’re an ambitious woman you have an agenda, you must be calculating or selfish or aggressive, or a climber’.
She also told of the ‘pain’ she has suffered ‘behind closed doors’, describing the fire incident as an example of how she had been forced to carry on with royal duties while dealing with personal issues.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk