LONDON (MNN); Prince Harry is expected to visit London next week without his wife Meghan Markle and their children, according to a source close to the Duke of Sussex, following reports that his request for government-funded police protection for his family was denied.
Harry had previously been expected to make his first family visit to the United Kingdom in four years. However, the source said Meghan, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet would not accompany him during the London leg of the trip.
British media reported that the 41-year-old prince is due to arrive on Monday for a five-day visit linked to the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games, the international sporting event for wounded military veterans that he founded in 2014.
He is also expected to participate in engagements related to several of his charitable organisations during the visit.
According to The Sun, Harry and Meghan had planned to make a joint visit to a London hospital, which would have been Meghan’s first public engagement of that kind in the UK since stepping back from royal duties. The newspaper said Harry would now attend alone due to security considerations.
Sources indicated that Harry and his family are currently in Europe and are still hoping to make a trip to the UK “in some form,” though it remains unclear whether Meghan and the children may visit another part of the country outside London.
Last month, a source close to the prince said the family intended to stay at royal residences during the visit, and the BBC reported that they were expected to be guests of King Charles III.
Security concerns remain central issue
However, the BBC later reported that Harry was reconsidering the visit after the British government rejected his formal request for taxpayer-funded police protection for his wife and children.
Under the current arrangement, the family would have to rely on privately funded security except while staying on royal estates.
Prince Harry has repeatedly expressed concern about his family’s safety in Britain. In 2025, he lost a legal challenge seeking the restoration of full police protection during visits to the UK.
“It’s impossible for me to take my family back to the UK safely,”
he said in a previous interview with the BBC.
Harry and Meghan relocated to North America in 2020 and stepped back from official royal duties amid growing tensions with the royal family. Relations deteriorated further following the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare and a series of legal disputes involving British media organisations.
His upcoming visit is also expected to coincide with a court judgment, anticipated on Tuesday, in a lawsuit brought by Harry and several other public figures against the publisher of the Daily Mail over alleged unlawful information gathering.
Although Harry has publicly said he hopes to reconcile with his father, it remains uncertain whether he will meet King Charles during this trip.
The prince is believed to have last met briefly with the 77-year-old monarch, who is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, at Clarence House in London in September 2025.
