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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited to the UK for a ‘big sleepover’ in Balmoral with the Queen, a royal expert has claimed.
Author Katie Nicholl told GB News Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster that Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan Markle, 41, were ‘invited at the end of August’.
She said: ‘The Queen always has this wonderful, extended stay for her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. There’s a big sleepover at Balmoral, they were invited to go to that.
‘They were also invited to go to Birkhall with the Prince of Wales and thus far they haven’t done it.’
The US-based couple, who are thought to have returned to Windsor over the weekend, are on a whirlwind European trip, having visited Dusseldorf today for an Invictus Games event, ahead of attending the WellChild Awards in the UK on Thursday.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured in Dusseldorf today) have turned down invitations to meet with the Queen and Prince Charles while they are in the UK, it was claimed today
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told GB News Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster: ‘I can tell you exclusively that they were invited at the end of August.’ Pictured, the Queen today
‘The Queen always has this wonderful, extended stay for her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. There’s a big sleepover at Balmoral, they were invited to go to that,’ said Katie (pictured)
Katie said: ‘I know from sources very close to the Prince of Wales that he is prepared to do anything it will take to get this relationship back on track, I think not least because he wants to as a father.
‘He wants to see his children as a grandfather, but I think he’s acutely aware that if there is this rift that threatens to overshadow his future reign as well. There are other issues at play here.’
The Sussexes are believed to have arrived at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor on Saturday ahead of their European tour.
The property is located just 380 feet away from the Cambridges’ new four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, where Prince William and Kate spent the weekend with their children.
However, while Harry and Meghan spent time less than half a mile from the Cambridges, the families are not expected to meet, in a decision that underlines the deep rift between the brothers.
Katie said: ‘I’m told I don’t think William can forgive his brother for what he’s done and how he’s done it, in terms of not just leaving the royal family, throwing them under a bus and his treatment of the royal family today.
Meghan attended today’s event with the Duke of Sussex, 37, to mark the one-year countdown to the 2023 Invictus Games, which were delayed due to the pandemic
Meghan looked effortlessly elegant as she walked down the red carpet with her husband in a £245 cream knitted top and £1,040 wide-leg trousers
‘Constantly. This threat of “what are they going to say next?”‘
She continued: ”Of course, we aren’t getting any official comment from the palace because if it happens, it’ll be a private meeting.
‘But everything I’m hearing is that there is still very much a rift and let’s not forget there is Harry’s autobiography to come. They don’t want to perhaps see him for risk of something being leaked.’
The royal expert also revealed that she spoke to a person helping to organise last night’s One Young World summit in Manchester, in which both Harry and Meghan attended.
‘I spoke to someone who was at the One Young World event, who was helping to organise it, who assured me there was no Netflix camera at this event,’ said Katie.
‘She says it went swimmingly at the event last night in Manchester, but I think that there’s constant awareness in the royal family that there’s going to be an autobiography.
Meghan showed off her natural beauty as she wore understated make-up and a minimalist outfit as she arrived at the Invictus Games 2023 One Year to Go event
Meghan beamed as she stood next to her husband Harry when attending the event together
‘There’s going to be some sort of a documentary. They are very cautious and they have every right to be.’
As well as not seeing the Queen, the couple also declined an ‘open invitation’ to stay with Prince Charles at his Scottish holiday house on the Balmoral estate.
The Prince of Wales told the couple they were ‘always welcome’ at his home ahead of their trip to the UK, palace sources confirmed.
The insiders told The Mirror that Charles had thought the Sussexes staying with him would be a ‘good opportunity for everyone to take stock and relax.’
‘But the invitation was declined, as it has been before,’ the source said, adding that Charles hasn’t ‘wavered’ on his attempts to have a relationship with his son ‘despite the attacks which seem to be coming with increased vigour.’
The couple’s trip comes amid Harry’s ongoing legal battle with the Government over his security when in the UK. He launched legal action after he was told he would no longer be given the ‘same degree’ of personal protection after stepping back from the Royal Family in 2020.
He said he did not feel safe under current security arrangements bringing his family here and has offered to pay for British police to act as bodyguards himself. Last month, he won a bid to bring a High Court claim against the Home Office.
Meanwhile, the Queen is said to be keeping calm and carrying on, but a source told The Sunday Times she did not want to be ‘on tenterhooks’ all the time waiting for the ‘next nuclear bomb’ from the Sussexes.
Another Palace source told the newspaper: ‘Ultimately, they are bashing the institution that has put them in the position they’re in – the longevity of that strategy is not sustainable.’
Harry and Meghan have taken part in several interviews since their departure from royal life, including their controversial sit-down with Oprah during which they accused the Royal Family of racism and said the institution failed to help a suicidal Meghan.
Tensions were raised further last week after an interview which saw Meghan suggest the Sussexes had been forced to move across the Atlantic because ‘by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’.
Speaking to US magazine The Cut, she also claimed her husband had ‘lost’ his father, with sources close to the couple saying this wasn’t a reference to Prince Charles, but her estrangement with her own father.
Royal insiders have branded the interview, which also saw Meghan compare herself to Nelson Mandela, as ‘delusional’ and have expressed concerns about the impact of their comments on the Queen.
Analysts allege Harry’s upcoming memoir, which is expected to be out in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, is also expected to slam the monarchy.
The contents of the tell-all memoir still remain a mystery, including to the Royal family who will get to read the book at the same time as the public.
Sources close to the Prince of Wales reportedly told The Telegraph last month that he had hoped his team would have been sent a copy of the book ahead of its publication. However, they claim neither he nor the Duke of Cambridge – or their attorneys – have received specifics about the book.
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