spare room

For previous visits, the estranged prince opted not to stay on royal estates.

IN A SIGN that the rift between the UK royal family and Prince Harry may be on the mend, Harry, his wife Meghan, and their two children will stay at royal residences in July during their first family visit back to the UK in four years. 

The estranged prince and his family, including seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet, will stay in a mixture of royal residences and private accommodation during the visit, a source confirmed to AFP.

The BBC reported the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be guests of King Charles III at an unspecified royal estate during the visit.

During previous visits, Harry has declined accommodation on royal estates, according to media reports.

The couple left Britain for North America in 2020 and stepped back from royal duties amid a bitter public feud with the family, which worsened in the following years as Harry published his tell-all memoir “Spare” and was embroiled in legal battles in the UK.

Harry (41) is visiting to mark the one-year countdown towards next year’s Invictus Games, launched by the prince in 2014 for wounded veterans.

The king’s younger son has said he would like to reconcile with his father, but it is unclear whether the two will meet during the visit.

He is believed to have briefly met with his 77-year-old father, who is being treated for an undisclosed cancer, at the king’s Clarence House residence in London in September 2025.

But after losing a court case to have full police protection restored during UK visits last year, the prince expressed concerns about his family’s safety in the country.

“It’s impossible for me to take my family back to the UK safely,” he told the BBC at the time.

While the security arrangements for July’s visit remain unclear, the BBC reported that Buckingham Palace had not offered any extra security for the trip.

Includes reporting from AFP