Why the Duchess and their children will not travel to London following security denial
Victoria Region
The Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet will not travel to London next week after their request for police protection was rejected.
After 10 days of uncertainty since the rejection, the Duke of Sussex decided it would not be safe to bring his family to the capital.
It is not known whether the duke, who will fly alone to London on Monday, will accept the invitation to stay at the royal residence as expected.
It is understood he was in direct contact with the King and made plans to see each other privately.
The eleventh-hour decision throws into doubt the long-awaited reunion between his children and their grandfather.
Although the Duchess and her children will not come to London, the family does not rule out the possibility of them traveling to Britain.
The Duchess was due to arrive in Birmingham on Friday to attend an event at the Invictus Games with her husband; This too could continue.
Royal engagements are meticulously planned, with every minute planned weeks, if not months, in advance.
The five-day visit had been carefully scheduled but was thrown into disarray some 10 days ago when it was revealed that the duke and duchess would not receive any taxpayer-funded police protection.
With just one day left before Prince Harry is due to return to London for his highly publicized charity work, no one knows what’s going on, including himself.
No longer working members of the royal family, the duke and duchess are not beholden to the wider palace machinery and make their own decisions.
The Duke’s schedule is not in doubt, but his family’s private plans are unclear.
This was not intended to be a normal return visit, the kind he had been doing on his own for several years.
Instead the duke was bringing along Prince Archie, aged seven and five, and Princess Lilibet in the hope he could organize a long-awaited meeting with the King, with the duchess expected to make her first return to the UK since 2022.
She is scheduled to accompany her husband to two public events to help promote the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in Birmingham 2027; one at Chelsea Royal Infirmary in London and one at an event in Birmingham.
The family hoped to travel together for about two weeks; public meetings were concluded with private time with friends and family.
Plans included visiting Althorp, the Spencer family estate and the resting place of the duke’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
But the security provision on which they had pinned their hopes was rejected, leaving the Duke in a quandary; he changed his mind repeatedly about the best course of action, who to bring with him, and where to stay.
He had planned to accept the invitation to stay at the royal residence, but the lack of security measures led to last-minute concerns about this, too.
A source said he was promised safe entry and exit to the residence, but this never happened. The Palace denied this was on the table. In any case, at the eleventh hour alternative private accommodation was frantically sought.
The Duke received multiple briefings from his private security team last week outlining the various travel options and the cost implications of each.
One was to stick to his original plan to fly to London from Europe, where he and his wife and children were on holiday.
They could have accepted the offer to stay at the royal residence and Meghan and Harry could have gone ahead with their engagement as planned. Alternatively, the Duke could fly alone, with his wife and children arriving a few days later.
The third option was for the duke to continue his work while the rest of his family remained in Europe. This remains the least preferred option, given her desire for her children to meet their grandfather, whom they have not seen in four years.
Although the Duke is likely to return to the UK in September to attend the annual WellChild Awards ceremony, his children will be heading back to school and there is no word on whether the King will be available.
Therefore, the next week was his best chance, which led to a tug of war between heart and mind.
Moreover, it was announced that the long-awaited Supreme Court decision regarding the Duke’s privacy claim against the publisher of the book was announced. Daily Mail It will be delivered on Tuesday, as he takes to the stage for his first public appearance in the UK in 10 months.
If he wins on just one of the 14 points that make up his claim against Associated Newspapers Limited, he will make a victory speech from an undisclosed location.
The timing is less than ideal. Despite all the noise about security and his relationship with his father, the duke and his team were hopeful that the spotlight would now be on their charities Invictus, WellChild and Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
Now his arrival will be overshadowed by a major court decision that may or may not go his way.
In the event, the family decided to stay away from London altogether because they believed it was unsafe. The hope of reunion now seems to rest with the King.
As the Duke weighed his options, both his own team and Buckingham Palace were left in the dark. He remained undecided on Saturday.
Made for drama
Meanwhile, palace aides were preparing for the next week of drama, fed up with Team Sussex’s decision to jump in and announce their travel plans before anything was confirmed.
Some believed that the Duke was trying to use his children as a form of “emotional blackmail” to force the Home Office to provide him with police protection. It was even claimed that he never considered bringing the children.
The soap opera was a huge disappointment as the main work was overshadowed. It has even been claimed that the King is not desperate to build bridges with his son, but if that was what Harry wanted he would do it.
Other sources painted a different picture and claimed that the couple, who met only twice in two years, would be happy to see each other and the King would be happy to see his grandchildren.
Although the monarch is aware of complex issues, family is still of utmost importance. A source said she had “softened her stance” on keeping her distance from her young son, but it wasn’t a decision she took lightly.
The deep anger and hurt felt by the Prince and Princess of Wales certainly play a part in this, as do fears about further damage the duke could inflict on the family.
However, the King and the Duke of Sussex are on good terms and talk frequently. Their private secretaries are also in more regular contact than some might imagine.
Whatever happens, the duke will return to London alone next week.
Can he swallow his pride and bring his wife and children back to his homeland (at least Birmingham, if not London) without police protection, despite his claims that it is too dangerous?
He’s running out of time to decide. Despite deep distrust on both sides, security discussions, briefings and counter-briefings, only time will tell whether the benefits ultimately outweigh the risks.
Telegraph, London
Get notes directly from abroad reporters about things that make headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.
