Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were back in London for the first time in about two years this week. The two former senior members of the royal family met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles during the trip after flying from Los Angeles to the U.K. Tuesday night. After the short visit to London, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continued their journey to The Hague, The Netherlands, to attend the Invictus Games on Saturday.
Harry and Markle flew commercial to London, with security behind them during the journey, sources told TMZ. They did not bring their children, Archie, 2, and 10-month-old Lilibet. The queen has not met Lilibet in person yet. Harry and Markle stayed at their former home, Frogmore Cottage at Windsor Castle, overnight. Princess Eugenie now lives there with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and their son August.
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“We can confirm that they visited the duke’s grandmother, as we previously said he hoped to do,” a spokesperson told Page Six. “They stopped by the UK on their way to the Hague to attend the Invictus Games.” Harry and Markle are reportedly already in the Netherlands.
Although Harry visited the U.K. last year to attend his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral and later unveil a Princess Diana memorial, this was Markle’s first time back in the U.K. since the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family in 2020. It also came over a year after the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. The interview included several shocking claims from Markle and Harry. Markle claimed a member of the royal family wondered about the color of their son’s skin before he was born, while Harry said he felt he and his brother Prince William were “trapped” as members of the royal family.
Harry’s decision to stop in the U.K. is surprising since his legal team told the High Court in London he “does not feel safe” visiting his home country without security in February. He said his family was “unable to return to his home” because it was dangerous. “This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements that were applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him if he returns,” Barrister Shaheed Fatima said, reports The Guardian.
Harry and Markle may have temporarily put those concerns aside to see Harry’s grandmother ahead of her 96th birthday. Queen Elizabeth’s health has become an increasing concern, and she will miss the Easter Sunday services this weekend. The queen was diagnosed with COVID-19 in February. During a virtual visit to a London hospital, Queen Elizabeth noted the virus “does leave one very tired and exhausted” in a conversation with a former COVID-19 patient.
