The Royal Family appeared to present a united front this morning following the unexpected announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to return to the UK, with the Princess of Wales photographed smiling as she was driven to a church service near Balmoral.
Prince William and Catherine were among a group of senior royals who attended the service at the small Crathie Kirk, close to the Balmoral estate, after what has been described as a family “summit” at the Scottish retreat.
The couple were accompanied by their eldest son, Prince George. King Charles and Queen Camilla were also present, along with Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward.
News emerged last Wednesday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be moving back to Britain after six years in the United States, as their children prepare to begin attending new schools in the UK.
King Charles arrived at the Royal Family’s Scottish summer residence on Tuesday, and the Prince and Princess of Wales have since been seen on the estate, as have the Princess Royal and her brother, the Duke of Edinburgh.
William and Kate have made no public comment on Harry and Meghan’s planned return, with the future king still estranged from his younger brother after the series of allegations Harry made against him, Kate, Charles and Camilla following his decision to step back from royal duties.
Reports have suggested the Royal Family gathered for talks over the Sussexes’ return, though officials have insisted the Balmoral visit is part of a long-established summer tradition in which extended family members spend time together at the estate.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, with their son Prince George, are pictured arriving for a Sunday church service at Crathie Kirk near the royal Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire
King Charles and Queen Camilla were also driven to the service
Other attendees included Princess Anne and her husband Timothy Laurence, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward
The Prince and Princess of Wales have joined Charles and Camilla at the Aberdeenshire estate along with their children George, Charlotte and Louis.
Zara and Mike Tindall have also been spotted at Balmoral, along with Peter Phillips and his new wife Harriet Sperling.
A source close to the Sussexes revealed last week that Harry and Meghan’s children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, have already been enrolled at British schools and will start classes in September.
It is thought they will live at a private, non-royal residence outside London – with suggestions they could be moving to the Cotswolds.
Since leaving for the US they have been living in Montecito, California, while also owning a holiday home in Portugal.
The King was said to have been taken aback by learning the homecoming plans only last Sunday – having not been told when Harry and Meghan met him on their visit to Britain last month.
The Princess of Wales smiles as she arrives at the church service, with Prince George in the rear seats of the vehicle
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Princess Catherine is pictured leaving after the service at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral
Also there for the Sunday morning service were Queen Camilla and King Charles
It emerged last week that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in the UK
Sources said that the terms of the Megxit deal under which the Sussexes are not ‘working royals’ will be unchanged.
The Sussexes’ status will remain the same, with the couple not being offered a ‘half in, half out’ option when it comes to their roles.
Harry and ex-Suits star Meghan, who were married at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in May 2018, were once dubbed part of the ‘Fab Four’ with the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – now the Prince and Princess of Wales.
But in March 2019, Buckingham Palace announced Harry and Meghan would set up their own household, breaking from the joint operation they had with William and Kate, amid reports of rifts between the two couples.
In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess announced they intended to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family, become financially independent and split their time between the UK and North America.
By March that year they had set up a permanent home in California, officially stepped down as senior royals and stopped using their HRH titles.
The fallout worsened after accusations Harry publicly levelled at members of the Royal Family including his brother in his memoir Spare and his Netflix documentary.
In his autobiography, released just months after Queen Elizabeth II died, Harry accused William of physically attacking him and pushing him into a dog bowl in a row over Meghan.
He also alleged it was William and Kate who encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005 and ‘howled’ with laughter when they saw it.
In their Netflix series two months after the Queen’s death, the Sussexes claimed Kensington Palace lied to protect William when it issued a statement denying a story he had bullied Harry out of the Royal Family.
Harry also wrote of how Charles pleaded with his two sons during a tense meeting at Windsor just after the funeral of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, saying: ‘Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.’
Meghan was able to travel to the UK in July with Archie and Lilibet to join Harry when he came to the end of a week-long series of events promoting next year’s Invictus Games.
During the visit, the Duke and Duchess took their children to see the King for the first time in four years at his Highgrove home, but are not thought to have raised the prospect of a return to the UK at that meeting.
The Invictus Games take place from July 10 to 17 next year, with Birmingham expected to welcome about 550 wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, and their families, from 25 nations.
Charles is said to be happy to be able to spend more time with the Sussex family but remains adamant they will not be working royals.
Harry and Meghan have not publicly commented on their reasons for relocating to the UK.
