Prince Harry is said to be ‘distraught’ after the government declined his request for police protection, forcing him to scrap a planned UK visit that would have reunited his children with King Charles for the first time in four years.
The duke and Meghan were due to travel to Britain early next month with Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five – their first family trip across the Atlantic since 2022. Harry had been excited for his children to meet their grandfather during the five-day visit, which was to include events linked to the Invictus Games in Birmingham.
“Prince Harry’s planned UK family trip has been cancelled after the government denied police protection, leaving him unable to bring his children safely.”
But the plans were “pulled out from under their feet at the 11th hour”, a source close to Harry said on Sunday. The prince, who lost a legal battle last year to secure automatic police protection in the UK, had been awaiting a final decision from the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), the Home Office committee responsible for authorising such security. Ravec decisions are taken by an independent chair, with membership including the royal household, Home Office, Cabinet Office and Metropolitan Police. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, does not contribute to individual Ravec decisions.
A government spokesperson said: “The UK government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our longstanding policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”
The source told the Guardian: “Their plans to see family, friends and visit various charitable causes close to the duke’s heart have been pulled out from under their feet at the 11th hour. He’s looking at every option to try and get the family here safely and keep them safe when they’re on the ground. If he can find a way to do that he will.”
The visit would have been the first time Charles had seen his youngest grandchildren in person since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022. Harry met his father last September at Clarence House in London, their first face-to-face meeting since February 2024.
But security fears remain paramount. The source added: “The hope is they can meet their grandfather, but there is no way that can happen if they are chased by paparazzi wherever they go from the moment they step off the plane. He won’t put his children through that.”
Harry has previously said he could not see a world in which he would bring his wife and children back to the UK, telling the BBC: “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point and the things they’re going to miss is, well, everything. You know I love my country, I always have done despite what some people in the country have done.”
Speculation had also emerged that Harry hoped to introduce his children to the “wider family” – namely the Spencer family, his late mother Princess Diana’s sisters and brother. Daily Mail senior editor-at-large Richard Kay told Palace Confidential: “My guess is, and I have to stress it is only a guess, that it is… he’s referring to the Spencer family, so his late mother’s sisters and brother, whom he has continued to keep up with throughout the years of his exile in California.” Kay noted that Harry is particularly close to his maternal aunts, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale, and that the Spencers have acted as a bridge between Harry and the royal family.
Meghan was due to take part in her first UK engagement in six years with a hospital visit, and the couple were expected to attend at least one public event together. Their children were not expected to join them for that part of the trip.
Harry is now exploring other options to make the journey happen, but the source said he fears it may not be possible without proper security arrangements. The Duke of Sussex, who lives in Montecito, California, has previously rejected an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace because of security worries.