Prince Harry is reportedly reassessing plans to travel to the UK with his wife and children for what would be their first meeting with King Charles in four years.
The Duke is understood to have grown uncertain about the trip after being told his family would not be provided with police protection.
Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, had been expected to spend five days in Britain in early July for engagements connected to the Invictus Games, with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet due to accompany them.
The King, who was said to be looking forward to seeing his grandchildren, is likely to be deeply disappointed if the planned reunion is called off.
Harry himself had reportedly been described as “desperate” for Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, to spend time with their grandfather.
Although the children were not expected to appear at public engagements, Meghan had been scheduled to accompany Harry to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and to an Invictus-related event in Birmingham.
Prince Harry may decide against bringing his wife and children to Britain next month after his request for taxpayer-funded security was rejected
King Charles III views an RAF flypast from the Buckingham Palace balcony during Trooping the Colour
Harry has long argued that security concerns have prevented him bringing his family to Britain after his taxpayer-funded protection changed
Details of the trip were announced on Friday evening.
Shortly afterwards, reported The Telegraph newspaper last night, the Duke was told his application for security for the visit had been denied.
His family’s taxpayer-funded protection in the UK does not extend beyond royal residences. They do, however, travel with their own bodyguards.
The Duke received an invitation from the King for his family to spend part of the trip in a royal property.
But the Telegraph quoted a source close to the California-based Sussexes who accused the Home Office of ‘wilfully creating conditions that are making it nearly impossible’ for them to move around Britain.
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The Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) was thought to have reviewed the situation in March.
However, the Duke was told last week that the assessment had not taken place and had in fact been ‘paused’.
Since quitting royal duties to move abroad in 2020, Harry has not been given police protection for anything other than official royal occasions, such as Elizabeth II’s funeral.
Prince Harry and Meghan with Charles and Camilla at a Buckingham Palace garden party in May 2018, just days after their wedding
He must provide 28 days’ notice of plans to visit Britain, with security decided on a case-by-case basis.
The King last saw them in 2022, when the Sussexes were in Britain for Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The family celebrated Lilibet’s first birthday together at Frogmore Cottage, Windsor.
Last night the newspaper quoted a source saying: ‘The precarious security situation and endless speculation about where the family will stay is making the planning and logistics for the private security team increasingly difficult.
‘There have been three separate incidents in the UK in less than 12 months that we know of, each involving a fixated person getting to within feet of the Duke.
‘In some circumstances, because of the limitations on what private security have the authority to do, they weren’t able to remove the person.
‘Harry is a big guy, a former soldier and generally pretty robust when it comes to handling these incidents. It’s what impact such moments would have on the kids that everyone is most concerned about.’
While Meghan shares their photographs and videos on social media, their faces are obscured, and they do not attend public events with their parents.
Among the options said to be under consideration would be to fly the Duchess and the children in and out of Britain in one day, from mainland Europe.
The Duke is said to have been given assurances from Buckingham Palace that there is ‘hope’ a meeting with the King could happen.
The Sussexes’ private security team has drawn up its own risk assessment, which has identified serious concerns.
A Government spokesman said: ‘The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate.
‘It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.’
