Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are already in Canada for the holidays. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said the couple are spending “private family time” in the same country where Markle spent years making USA Network’s Suits. The couple will not be with the rest of the royal family, a decision that is reportedly controversial in Harry’s family.
“As has been reported, their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are spending private family time in Canada,” the spokesperson told Entertainment Tonight Friday. “The decision to base themselves in Canada reflects the importance of this Commonwealth country to them both.”
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Harry is a “frequent visitor to Canada over many years, and it was also home to the duchess for seven years before she became a member of the royal family,” the spokesperson continued. “They are enjoying sharing the warmth of the Canadian people and the beauty of the landscape with their young son.”
A source also told ET that Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, is in Canada and is expected to spend Christmas with the couple and their son, Archie.
Before Markle married Harry in May 2018, she spent several years filming Suits in Toronto. Her close friend, Jessica Mulroney, also lives in Canada with her husband and four children, notes E! News.
Harry has also visited Canada several times on royal visits. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, a group of countries that were members of the British Empire.
The statement from the couple’s spokesman comes about after The Sunday Times reported in October that they planned to spend part of the holiday in Los Angeles. It will be the first time Archie visits his mother’s native country.
Some members of the royal family are reportedly not happy that Prince Harry will not be spending Christmas in the U.K. with his family, especially with his grandparents, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, in their 90s.
“Some members of the family think the couple should have considered queen and Prince Philip’s advancing age,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “After all, at 93 and it being Archie’s first Christmas, neither Her Majesty the Queen nor Prince Philip will be around forever.”
Philip, 98, was taken to a London hospital on Friday as a “precautionary measure” for a “preexisting condition” and is expected to remain hospitalized for a few days.
Harry and Markle did not mention their holiday plans on their Instagram page Friday. Instead, they posted photos from their visit to the Brinsworth House, a nursing care home run by the Royal Variety Charity, in 2018.
Photo credit: UK Press Pool/UK Press via Getty Images
