The newest addition to the royal family has embraced yet another royal tradition – summer retreats to the Scottish holiday home.
Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex are believed to be staying with the Queen at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire over the Bank Holiday weekend.
It seems bracing walks and BBQs are on the agenda – but this visit to Prince Albert’s estate isn’t the first time the newlyweds have holidayed across the northern border.
The couple, who are known as the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton in Scotland, reportedly visited the Castle of Mey earlier this summer.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured at the Nelson Mandela Centenary Exhibition in July) are believed to be holidaying with the Queen at the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire
This isn’t the first time the newlyweds have holidayed in Scotland – Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex are believed to have visited the Castle of Mey (file photo)
They joined Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the former residence of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on Scotland’s northern coast, the Sunday Times reported.
Their second Scottish retreat comes after the duchess’ father Thomas Markle gave a series of interviews criticising the royal family.
The former lighting director, 74, claimed the pair had ‘cut him off’ after he staged a series of fake photos with a Los Angeles-based paparazzi photographer before their wedding in May.
The duchess is believed to be reluctant to talk to her father in case he leaks anything to the press. Earlier this month he gave his ‘final interview’ with the Mail On Sunday – before talking to the Sun a day later.
A source told the Sunday Times: ‘Meghan doesn’t think it’s a fair game between her father and the media so she’s not going to engage in it or instruct anyone on her behalf to set the record straight.
‘There have always been fears over his vulnerability. Now he’s got himself into a cycle of talking publicly. It’s very sad.’
Thomas Markle, pictured, has compared the royals to Scientologists and even gone as far as to claim Meghan would be better off ‘if I was dead’
A source said: ‘Meghan doesn’t think it’s a fair game between her father and the media so she’s not going to engage in it or instruct anyone on her behalf to set the record straight’
In his interview with the Mail On Sunday, Mr Markle claimed Meghan told him there would be ‘no room’ for him to give a speech at the wedding, and that he ‘doesn’t care’ about the Royals and wants his old life back.
He said: ‘I’m not mad at Harry. I’m not mad at Meghan. I love them. I wish them well. But as for the rest of it, f*** it. I’m done.’
In the same interview, which lasted nine hours, Mr Markle said he had given just three interviews but felt the need to speak out again to combat the ‘lies’ about him.
Mr Markle said: ‘Thousands of stories have been written about me, most of them bull***t. I’ve given two interviews. This is my third. Things have been made up, spun around and others are outright lie.’