The Royal Family’s summer gathering at Balmoral has become an informal summit to discuss the return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the UK, according to reports.
Senior members of the Royal Family have been gathering at the Scottish estate for their traditional annual August break, which offers a period of respite from their public duties.
However, the announcement of Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK this week—six years after their dramatic departure as working royals—is likely to dominate conversations this year.
Senior royals arrive at Balmoral
The King was pictured arriving at Balmoral on Tuesday, while Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, were also seen travelling to the estate accompanied by several security vehicles. It is understood the Queen is also at the estate.
William and Catherine have not publicly commented on reports surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s return. Royal sources, however, have suggested that tensions between the brothers remain unresolved.
Sources claim William is still deeply hurt by the public airing of family grievances in Harry’s memoir Spare and private details shared in interviews.
Other members of the family arriving at Balmoral include Prince Edward and his son James, Earl of Wessex, as well as Zara and Mike Tindall and the Princess Royal.
Sussexes' return plans
Sources told The Sun that it remains “business as usual” for the Royal Family despite the prospect of Harry and Meghan returning to the UK.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected back in the UK at the end of August and are set to remain for an “extended period”.
The couple have reportedly enrolled Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, at schools ahead of the new academic year in September.
The news marks a huge change for the Sussex family, who have been based in California since stepping back as working members of the Royal Family in 2020.
Comparisons to Sandringham summit
The discussions at Balmoral echo those of the so-called ‘Sandringham summit’ in January 2020, when the late Queen Elizabeth II, then-Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry met to determine Harry and Meghan’s future after the couple announced their intention to step back from senior royal duties.
This time, however, attention will be focused on whether Harry and Meghan’s return could pave the way for a thaw in relations. Charles, who only found out about the duke and duchess’s plans three days before they became public, is said to be happy to be able to spend more time with the Sussex family, but remains adamant they will not be working royals.
Harry and Meghan have not commented on their reasons for relocating to the UK, though a source close to the duchess did not deny reporting that she has been offered an acting role in an upcoming project in the country.
Their move comes after the duke and duchess took their children to see their grandfather the King for the first time in four years at his Highgrove home in July. The couple are not thought to have raised the prospect of a return to the UK at that meeting.
Questions have been raised over the Sussexes’ finances as decisions about whether taxpayers will foot the bill for their security remain unanswered, but the duchess will continue to run her lifestyle brand, As Ever, from their new base.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham would not be drawn on Harry and Meghan’s security arrangements in the UK, saying the funding for it was a “private matter”.
