Prince Harry forced to stay in hotel as Windsor Castle request was “rejected by Royal Family”

Prince Harry is set to stay in a hotel when he returns to the UK for an Invictus Games event next week as opposed to any official royal residence, according to reports.

Harry will fly back to his homeland to speak at St. Paul’s Cathedral on May 8 at an event to mark the Games’ tenth anniversary. Much has been said about the potential for the Duke of Sussex to meet with his family while in the UK – a point of particular interest given the respective cancer diagnoses handed down to both King Charles and Kate Middleton this year – but the Daily Mirror say that no senior royals will attend the aforementioned event.

Harry and Meghan Markle, readers may remember, lost their home in the UK, Frogmore Cottage, after being evicted by King Charles in the summer of 2023.

That shift is said to be why the Sussexes haven’t returned to the UK as a family since, with both Harry and Meghan harboring safety concerns after it was made clear that they would have to arrange their own security on any potential visit.

Harry’s most recent trip across the Atlantic was in the immediate aftermath of his father’s cancer diagnosis, but on that occasion the meeting between father and son was brief. Harry was reported to have stayed in a London hotel after having his request to stay at Windsor Castle denied.

On that occasion – September 2023 – the Royal Family cited a lack of notice as the reason for the denial.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 06: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attends the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023 in London, England. The Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms takes place at Westminster Abbey today. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. (Photo by Ben Stansall – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Yet despite having a longer notice period this time around ahead of Harry’s visit to London, it’s believed the prince will again stay in a hotel. Neither will wife Meghan Markle be joining him, instead opting to remain in the US to prepare for the couple’s unofficial tour of Nigeria.

Not being joined by his family may weigh heavily on Harry, according to the Mail on Sunday’s Royal Editor, Charlotte Griffiths.

“It’s a really important part of Harry’s soul, and the kind of thing he’d want his wife, maybe even his kids by his side for,” she explained.

“Meghan is leaving him there alone, and I just think he’s going to cast a really lonely portrait of a man without his friends around him, without his family and without senior members of the Royal Family. And no wife there with him as well.”

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – OCTOBER 02: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a Creative Industries and Business Reception on October 02, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Interestingly, reports earlier this week claimed that King Charles wishes to meet with his son again, and that the prospect of “reconciling” is even said to be on the table.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun newspaper: “The King has always kept the door open to Harry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he would invariably get a warm reception.

He added: “It will take its time. But clearly the situation has changed in recent weeks beyond all expectations. I don’t think it would be too difficult, it depends how you define reconcile. I think there’s a long way to go before Harry is bringing over Meghan and the children.”