Prince Harry to Travel to London Without Meghan Markle, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
The Duke of Sussex will travel to London solo, PEOPLE confirms, but the family’s plans for the remainder of his U.K. trip remain undecided
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Prince Harry, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and Meghan Markle.Credit :
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex/Instagram
Prince Harry’s children won’t be returning to London after all.
PEOPLE has learned on July 4 that Meghan Markle, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will not accompany Harry to London when he arrives in the U.K. next week. However, no decision has yet been made on whether the family will join the Duke of Sussex for other parts of his visit outside the capital.
The update comes after Harry and Meghan had hoped to bring Archie and Lilibet back to Britain for the first time since 2022, with Harry determined to give his children the chance to experience the country where he grew up and potentially spend time with King Charles. Their absence from the London leg of the trip now raises questions about whether a family reunion will happen during the visit.
The family’s plans have been complicated by ongoing security concerns. In a statement shared with PEOPLE on June 29, a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex said, “The issue is whether appropriate and proportionate protective security is being provided throughout the entirety of the visit.” While the King offered accommodations on a royal estate, the security arrangements would not extend beyond the property.
At the time, the spokesperson said Harry was continuing to “explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the U.K.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were vacationing in Europe with the children ahead of the expected U.K. visit. Harry is expected to travel to Britain as planned for a series of charity engagements, including events marking the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, as well as appearances supporting WellChild and Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
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Prince Harry has long maintained that he does not feel it is safe to bring Meghan and their children to the U.K. after losing their taxpayer-funded police protection in 2020, when they stepped back from their royal roles and relocated to California.
PEOPLE understands that a review of Harry’s security arrangements by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), which could affect the level of protection he receives during U.K. visits, had yet to conclude as of late June. Representatives for the Duke of Sussex say RAVEC’s own terms of reference call for a Risk Management Board review at least once a year, but Harry’s last review was conducted nearly seven years ago.
After losing his legal appeal against a government decision that stripped him of automatic police protection when visiting Britain, Harry told the BBC in May 2025 that he couldn’t “see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point.”
“The things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything,” he added of his children. “I miss the U.K., I miss parts of the U.K., of course I do. I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”
Prince Archie was born in the U.K. and introduced to the world with a photo call at Windsor Castle shortly after his birth in May 2019. Archie also joined his parents at a polo match over the summer, and he joined them on a royal tour of South Africa in September 2019, where he met Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
However, Archie has remained largely out of the public eye since Meghan and Harry stepped back from their royal roles in 2020 and relocated to California.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter, Lilibet, in 2021 after relocating to the U.S., and she previously only visited her dad’s home country in 2022 when the family returned to the U.K. for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. During that trip, Prince Harry and Meghan celebrated their daughter’s first birthday with a backyard party at Frogmore Cottage, their former residence, and released an official photo of Lili from the event.
While Prince Harry and Meghan have shared photos of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet over the years — including on Meghan’s Instagram page since rejoining the social media platform in early 2025 and in promotional images for As ever — the children’s faces are usually obscured from view to protect their privacy.
“Harry has been reluctant to show his children publicly, not out of a desire to hide them but to protect their privacy and safety from potential threats,” a friend previously told PEOPLE. “He wants them to lead as normal a life as possible without the fear of kidnapping or harm.”
