Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have no plans to jet back to the UK for the holidays — despite the fact that it will be Queen Elizabeth II’s first Christmas without her husband, Prince Phillip, who died in April. Not to mention that the 95-year-old matriarch has had concerning health problems of late.
An invitation has been extended to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to join the rest of the royal family at Sandringham for Christmas, but they will not be attending, Page Six is told by multiple royal sources.
“There’s a lot that goes into the logistics and the planning of the family Christmas, so of course, staff know that Harry and Meghan are not coming,” one royal source told Page Six. “If they were, they would have communicated it to their family by now.
“But this is Her Majesty’s first Christmas without her husband, so one would have hoped they would want to be with her.”
It’s believed that Harry and Meghan don’t want to cause the inevitable headlines that would come if they did fly over from their new home in Montecito, Calif.
“I think everyone understands there will be a frenzy when they both come back to the UK, but they need to rip the [Band-Aid] off and get on with it.” the source added.
The Queen is usually joined at Sandringham, her country estate, by family including Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince William and wife Kate Middleton, who accompany her to a church service.
Harry and Markle also are not expected to attend the Queen’s annual Christmas lunch for her extended family, normally held at Buckingham Palace. This year, sources believe it will be held at Windsor Castle, where the Queen is spending most of her time as she recuperates from a bad back.
“But this is Her Majesty’s first Christmas without her husband, so one would have hoped they would want to be with her.”
royal source
Health woes forced her to pull out of an appearance at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this month after spending a night in the hospital for tests. Doctors advised her to rest and she recorded a video message for the event.
The 95-year-old monarch was also “disappointed” to miss the Remembrance Sunday service at London’s Cenotaph this past Sunday, which palace staff blamed on a “back sprain.”
The last time Harry and Markle were at Sandringham for Christmas was in 2018, one year before the couple made the sensational announcement about quitting their senior roles in the royal family.
Harry has been back to the UK twice this year: once to attend his grandfather’s funeral in April, and again in July to unveil the Kensington Palace statue of his mother, Princess Diana, alongside his brother, Prince William.
Markle was heavily pregnant with their daughter, Lili, at the time of the funeral, and could not travel upon doctor’s orders. She gave birth in June, just weeks before the statue unveiling.
While the Sussexes are believed to be planning to attend the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022, another insider said that’s actually worse timing.
“If that is the first time they are back in the country since Megxit, and they suck all the oxygen from the Queen, that will be just terrible,” the insider said.
Reps for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were unavailable for comment.
