King’s Highgrove ‘olive branch’ for Harry: Charles could offer duke and Meghan his beloved private country estate as place to stay if they visit UK together this year, royal insiders say

It has been claimed today that King Charles may offer ‘ultra-secure’ Highgrove House as an ‘olive branch’ to Harry and Meghan during their possible joint visit to the UK later this year.

The Sussex couple are expected to ask Harry’s father to open the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027 if relations between them continue to thaw.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, will reportedly join her husband at the ‘One Year to Stay’ event at the National Exhibition Center in July, amid ongoing debate over whether the couple will be provided with taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK.

‘This seems likely to happen. The royal said Meghan had attended equivalent countdown events elsewhere, so it would seem odd if she didn’t attend the one in Birmingham.

‘If the current thaw in family relations continues, there is a good chance they will remain at the royal residence during their stay in the UK, which includes Invictus events.’

The insider added: ‘I don’t believe Harry has asked his dad to open the Invictus Games in Birmingham yet but it looks like he will and it will be hard for the King to refuse.’

Charles and Prince William helped Harry launch a sports tournament for wounded soldiers in 2014.

The Daily Mail’s royal source said Charles’ beloved Cotswolds home Highgrove was ‘a relatively short drive off the M5 from Birmingham’; The ideal place to go to Sussex this summer.

The ‘ultra-secure’ 18th-century property also has a steel-lined panic room, is covered in a no-fly zone and is also surrounded by armed police guarding the King 24/7, creating a ‘protection bubble’ for Harry, Meghan and their children if Archie and Lilibet arrive too.

But the insider added that Highgrove would be ideal for July: ‘The Sussexes need to stay in a hotel in the city during the Games in 2027.’

Highgrove is just over an hour away from the NEC in Birmingham, where Invictus and the One Year To Go event on July 10 will take place. The house is completely safe; It even has a steel-lined panic room.

Another source warned that his brother William and sister-in-law Kate will be watching developments carefully, especially if the Sussexes are offered a place to stay on the royal estate.

‘You have to remember that Wales are running the show at the moment,’ a well-placed source said, adding that they believed Charles would be careful to offer them Highgrove if it upset William.

It comes days after it was claimed Harry was confident he had won the fight for armed police protection when he visited the UK.

A decision made in his favor by the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec) is said to have been ‘approved’.

An incident in which Harry was approached by a stalker making online threats is said to be at the center of the U-turn.

But a royal source said: ‘I think there is a wariness in Whitehall and the palace about concerns that someone in the Sussex camp is using this to pressure Ravec to bring back automatic police protection for Harry and Meghan.

‘I think the Sussexes have good reason to say that they should have police protection when they return to Britain to see the Royal Family or to support their charitable interests. They can make this easier and cheaper by staying in royal residences within security boundaries.

‘What if they come here to make money? Should British taxpayers bear this?’

They said Meghan’s return to the UK for the first time since 2022 was on the agenda.

Harry and Meghan had booked luxury hotels for themselves, their team and security guards at the previous Invictus Games.

A senior security source with decades of experience in royal and VIP protection also said he believed the Sussexes had “nailed it” in regaining taxpayer-funded security.

The games will be hosted by Birmingham’s famous NEC. There are a number of affordable luxury hotels near the arena, within Birmingham and in neighboring Warwickshire and Shropshire.

Harry and Meghan walk hand in hand at the Hillcrest Recreation Center at the Invictus Games on February 10, 2025

Meghan is understood to be hoping to attend the one-year countdown event to the Invictus Games on July 10 ahead of the 2027 Games in Birmingham.

The sporting event was founded by Harry to support wounded and injured service personnel and veterans.

He has previously joined Harry at similar annual countdown ceremonies in Canada and Germany, and sources say he is willing to do the same in the UK, provided security concerns are resolved.

This is Meghan’s wedding to Queen Elizabeth II. It would be his first trip to England since September 2022, when he attended Elizabeth’s funeral.

Although official details of the Birmingham countdown celebrations are yet to be confirmed, the Sussexes are expected to be involved in the ceremonies.

A source told the Sun: ‘Security will always be the deciding factor in this.’

Harry’s security arrangements are currently being reviewed by Ravec, a committee of police, royal and government experts.

The duke has repeatedly said he does not believe it is safe to bring his family to the UK without adequate protection.

Plans are reportedly well underway for Meghan to travel to the Midlands to support the event, but this will only be possible if the review ends in their favour.

A decision is expected later this month.

It is not yet known whether the couple’s children will accompany them. Six-year-old Archie and four-year-old Lilibet met Queen Elizabeth II. They have not been to England since Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. There was scattered booing when Meghan arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral for the ceremony.

The Invictus Games Foundation is producing a series of promotional events in Birmingham this summer; Invitations have already been sent to the representatives of the countries that will compete.

Meghan has previously been a regular at such events. In February 2024, he joined Harry in Vancouver and Whistler to promote the following year’s Games, meet competitors and attend training sessions, before returning to the Games 12 months later.

Additionally, while the couple was staying at Windsor, Queen Elizabeth II. He attended a one-year countdown ceremony in Düsseldorf in September 2022, just a few days before Elizabeth’s death.

Meghan later spoke about the difficulty of spending time away from her children in an episode of her Netflix show With Love, Meghan.

She said: ‘The longest I’ve spent without being around our children was almost three weeks. ‘I wasn’t well.’

She did not attend the one-year countdown to the 2019 Hague Games as it arrived shortly after Archie’s birth, but she attended the Games herself.

Meghan also appeared at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto and traveled to Nigeria with Harry in 2024 to support the foundation.

Meanwhile, Harry, 41, is said to be hoping his father King Charles will open the Birmingham Invictus Games in July 2027, although invitations have not yet been issued.

Harry lost his automatic right to armed police protection when he stood down as a royal employee and moved to California in 2020.

He subsequently lost a Supreme Court appeal against the decision last May, describing it as an “old-fashioned erection of orders”.

Sources close to Sussex reportedly claimed the Government was ‘confirmed’ it would provide him with armed guards following the latest review.

A spokesperson for Sussex has been approached for comment.