Prince Harry is set to return to the United Kingdom next week for a five-day trip marking the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in Birmingham. However, his visit remains clouded by uncertainty over security arrangements, including whether his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will accompany him.
The Duke of Sussex has been waiting for a review by the Risk Management Board (RMB), part of the process by which the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) rules on his security requirements. He learned on Friday that the review had yet to take place.
Royal Commentator Weighs In
Royal author Robert Jobson told Newsweek: "Harry's heart was in the right place. He wanted to bring his children to get to know their grandfather; now they are old enough to remember it."
Jobson added: "King Charles asked him, long before he left, whether he had thought it through. Harry believed protection would follow as a matter of course. It did not. The obstacles in his path now flow from the deal he chose in 2020."
Harry's Team Responds
A spokesman for the Duke said: "The duke continues to explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the UK."
The spokesman added: "Prince Harry's programme in the United Kingdom includes both public and private engagements across the country. Safe accommodation is only one element of an effective protective security plan because risk follows the person, not the place."
"The issue has never been accommodation. The issue is whether appropriate and proportionate protective security is being provided throughout the entirety of the visit."
"The independent Risk Management Board that Ravec itself decided was necessary last November has still not taken place. It is therefore difficult to understand how the proportionality of the current arrangements can credibly be maintained without that independent assessment."
Background of the Security Dispute
Prince Harry lost his appeal against the UK security decision in 2025. The duke has been fighting for state-funded protection when in the UK, arguing that his private security team cannot provide the same level of safety. The row has been a major point of contention since he and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
Despite the ongoing legal and procedural hurdles, the Invictus Games countdown event is expected to go ahead. The games, founded by Harry in 2014, are set to take place in Birmingham in 2027.
