Prince Harry's Trip to U.K. for Diana Statue Unveiling in Doubt

published 1 May 2021

Following his visit to the United Kingdom in April for Prince Philip's funeral, new reports suggest Prince Harry may not return home this summer as many expected he would.
Harry was widely expected to travel home for the unveiling of a statue in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana, that's set to debut at Kensington Palace in London on July 1, which would have been Diana's 6oth birthday.
Some royal experts expect Harry will now skip the event, however, after his reunions with Prince Charles and Prince William reportedly did not go well.

Prince Harry (opens in new tab) may be pressing pause on future trips to the United Kingdom.

The royal was expected to travel home this summer for the unveiling of a statue in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana (opens in new tab), at Kensington Palace. The statue is scheduled to be unveiled on July 1, on what would have been Diana's 60th birthday (opens in new tab).

Now, however, some royal experts doubt that trip will actually happen after all. Harry recently visited the U.K. to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip (opens in new tab), but several reports suggest his reunions with some family members (specifically his father, Prince Charles (opens in new tab), and older brother, Prince William (opens in new tab)) didn't go as well as many may have hoped.

Speaking to The Sun (opens in new tab), Phil Dampier (opens in new tab), author of Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan In Their Own Words (opens in new tab), predicted that Harry's wife, Meghan Markle (opens in new tab), could play a role in him skipping the statue unveiling this summer, if he decides not to attend.

"I personally don't think Meghan will return to the U.K.," he said. "And there must now be a serious doubt as to whether Harry will come over for the unveiling of a statue for Princess Diana on what would have been her 60th birthday in July."

Dampier also discussed the "broken" relationship between Harry and Meghan and William and his wife, Kate Middleton, which he said is still "strained" following Harry's reunion with Will and Kate (opens in new tab) at Philip's funeral.

"The relationship between the so-called former 'Fab Four (opens in new tab)'—Harry, Meghan, William and Kate—is now so broken and delicate that everyone is looking for the slightest signs it is getting better…or worse," Dampier said. "The discussions after Prince Philip’s funeral were a start, but were clearly very strained and only an opening move."

As for what the royals' next steps should be, Dampier said the Sussexes (opens in new tab) should focus on their new ventures and do their best to let their feud with the royal family go—at least in the public eye.

"Harry and Meghan now have all they want to make them happy if they are going to be," Dampier explained. "A son, a daughter on the way, their freedom from the royal family and the means to make money and get involved in cases which interest them. To carry on a war with Harry’s blood family is unnecessary and counter-productive, and the sooner they realize that the better. They should get on with their lives, stop playing the victim and stop playing on their royal connections by leaking stories while pleading for privacy. People can see through it and anyone who advises them to carry on this way is giving them bad advice."