Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not been invited to the Royal Family’s summer gathering at Balmoral Castle this year, sources said today.
King Charles III has continued the tradition of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, of travelling to the estate in the Scottish Highlands towards the end of summer.
But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have not received an invitation for years, according to People magazine.
The news has not yet been confirmed by either party, and MailOnline has today contacted representatives from Buckingham Palace and the Sussexes for comment.
Other royals expected at Balmoral this year include Prince William and his wife Kate with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
A source said Express.co.uk that the Welsh would be there, adding: “This year it will be quite a low-key event where everyone will just get together to relax and unwind.”
Prince Harry and Meghan at the 2024 ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on July 11
Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands is much loved by members of the Royal Family.
Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, are also expected to join the family at the reunion in mid-August.
But they are not expected to be joined by Harry, who has previously spoken about his love of Balmoral having spent much of his childhood in the retreat.
The Duke wrote in his memoirs, Spare: “For me, Balmoral was always simply Paradise. A cross between Disney World and a sacred Druid’s forest.
‘I was always too busy fishing, shooting, running up and down the ‘hill’ to notice anything strange about the Feng Shui of the old castle.
‘What I’m trying to say is that I was happy there.’
However, Balmoral also holds many sad memories for the Royal Family, as it is where Elizabeth II died aged 96 in September 2022.
Prince Harry at the Balmoral estate with his father Charles and brother William in 1997
Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral on September 6, 2022, two days before her death at age 96.
Harry was in the UK at the time with Meghan when he received a phone call from Charles to tell him that his grandmother’s health was deteriorating.
The duke then made plans to fly to the estate on a charter flight from London Luton Airport, but his father asked him not to bring Meghan.
However, when his plane landed in Scotland, he learned that the Queen had died by checking the BBC News website on his phone.
Balmoral is currently open to the public during the summer before Charles and Queen Camilla arrive for their holidays.
Tickets for the guided tours, priced at £100 or £150 with afternoon tea, sold out within 24 hours of going on sale, with 40 people allowed to visit the royal residence each day from 1 July to 4 August.
This comes amid a flurry of news about Harry and Meghan, who will visit Colombia for a tour later this year after accepting an invitation from the country’s vice president, Francia Marquez, although the dates have not yet been confirmed.
Yesterday, CBS released a clip of Harry and Meghan in an interview about children’s online safety, which will air on the US channel’s Sunday Morning show.
Around the same time as Colombia’s announcement yesterday, CBS released a clip from an upcoming interview with Harry and Meghan this Sunday about cyber safety for children, with the Duke saying parents should be “the first responders.”
And People magazine has published several articles this week using quotes from sources close to the Sussexes.
One of them saw friends of Harry claim the King is no longer taking his estranged son’s calls or responding to his letters as their rift deepens.
The Duke and Charles last met in person in February, when they met for 45 minutes in London following the monarch’s cancer diagnosis.
But sources close to Harry said their communication has worsened since then amid growing tensions over the duke’s battle for his safety when in Britain.
The Duke is said to be “scared” for the safety of his wife Meghan and children Archie and Lilibet, and believes the King has the power to intervene in his ongoing court case with the Home Office.
King Charles III and Prince Harry, pictured at the Natural History Museum in December 2019
William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak at Westminster Abbey in London in March 2019
Sources said People that the security issue began as a point of frustration between father and son, but has now turned into “total silence.”
A friend of Harry said: “He says ‘he’s not available at the moment’. His calls are not being answered. He has tried to contact the King to ask about his health but those calls are also not being answered.”
Decisions regarding the Duke’s security are taken independently of the King by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), which is part of the Ministry of the Interior.
Harry last visited the UK in May to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, but was unable to join his father on this recent trip.
The Duke’s spokesman said it was due to the King’s “full schedule”.
The US magazine also cited sources as saying that Meghan wishes Harry “could put aside these demands” about his security because she wants the duke to be “free” and “live in the moment”.
He People The report quotes a former Archewell Foundation employee as saying: “(Meghan) wants him to be free from all of this, but she also knows that because of everything he’s been through and his love for (her and their children), he can’t do that. She wants him to live in a world where he doesn’t have to endure this.”
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