Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Are Expected To Return To The U.K. This Spring

There may be big plans on the horizon for Harry and Meghan—travel plans, that is. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to return to the United Kingdom this spring, according to royal experts. 

Prince Harry—and likely his family—will travel to Europe in May for the Invictus Games. At the event, which was founded by Harry, wounded or ailing soldiers and veterans compete in adaptive parasports. The last two years’ events have been postponed because of the pandemic, and the next games are scheduled to happen in the Netherlands from May 29-June 5. 

Since they’re scheduled to travel to the continent anyway, Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers speculated on the podcast Pod Save the Queen, it only makes sense that the Sussexes would visit the U.K. as well. “I think that that’s probably a fair bet to say that we may see them in the springtime next year,” Myers said, “But who knows?”

The games overlap with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, happening from June 2-5, which celebrates her 70 years as monarch. Queen Elizabeth has had the longest reign on the throne in the history of the country and is the first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. It hasn’t been confirmed by the palace, but royal experts expect Harry and Meghan to attend the festivities, despite the family rift. 

“I think we can be certain that Harry and Meghan will be coming back to Britain” for the celebration, royal expert Katie Nicholl said. "I think the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022 are a likely opportunity for them to come over to be a part of the official celebrations of the Queen’s 70th year."

If they do return, it will be more than two years since the Sussexes will have stepped foot in England together. Harry and Meghan haven’t returned as a couple to Harry’s home country since the couple resigned from senior royal duties in March 2020 and moved to California. 

Harry has made two short trips home since then: once to attend his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral in April, and once in July for the unveiling of a memorial statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Kate Middleton reside in London. For both occasions, Meghan was unable to attend. She was advised not to travel in April because of her pregnancy, and was recovering from having given birth to Lilibet Diana only weeks before the statue was unveiled. 

Archie hasn’t returned to the country of his birth since the family left, and Lili has never visited. Though she has met her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth over video chat, she hasn’t met her British family in person. Because Archie and Lili have one British parent and one American parent, the kids have dual citizenship. 

At the Invictus Games in September 2017 in Toronto, the now-married couple made their first public appearance. What we didn’t know at the time is that Harry and Meghan were already secretly engaged, and that Meghan’s clothing choice at the games was a hint at the momentous event. They publicly announced their engagement that November.