Harry and Meghan accept King’s invitation to stay in royal residence during upcoming UK visit

London (CNN) — Prince Harry and Meghan will stay in royal residence next month during their first trip to the United Kingdom in four years, raising hopes of a potential rapprochement with the rest of the royal family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be joined by their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, CNN understands, in what will be their first family trip to the UK since 2022, when the Sussexes attended the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The Sussex family had previously been offered accommodation on the royal estate for any potential visits, a palace source previously told CNN, but this is the first time the family has accepted the invitation.

CNN understands the family plans to stay across a mixture of both royal residence and private accommodation during the trip.

Harry and Meghan took the shock move to step back from royal life in 2020, opting to relocate their family from the UK to California to pursue a “financially independent” life.

The exit kickstarted a long-running and public rift with the royal family, with the couple citing in televised interviews and Harry’s memoir that tabloid intrusion, complex family dynamics and entrenched racism in British institutions were key factors behind their decision to quit the UK.

Harry has made several trips to the UK, and Meghan joined him for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. Harry came alone to his father King Charles III’s coronation in 2023.

The prince reunited with his father for the first time in 19 months in September last year, with Charles and Harry sharing a private tea at Clarence House. The face-to-face meeting came as King Charles underwent treatment for cancer, and triggered speculation that the royal family’s long-running rift might be coming to an end. The pair have reportedly been in contact since, though Harry still appears to be estranged from his brother Prince William.

Most recently, Harry returned to London in January to attend court as part of a lawsuit he and others have brought against the publisher of the Daily Mail over allegations of unlawful information gathering and phone hacking.

After the UK Home Office removed Harry’s taxpayer-funded security arrangements when he stepped down from royal duties, the prince told the BBC last year: “I can’t see a world in which I will be bringing his wife and children back to the UK at this point.” The security arrangements for the family’s upcoming trip have not been made public, but while in royal residence the family would be protected by existing security arrangements.

The July trip will see Prince Harry celebrate a year until the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, the sporting competition for military personnel injured in service that he founded over a decade ago.

He will have other engagements in the Midlands relating to other causes he supports. The visit starts with Invictus related events in London where Meghan will also join him. Their children are not expected to attend any public engagements, and details about their private time are not being shared.

The-CNN-Wire
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