Prince Harry has endured a dramatic time of late continuing his legal battle over his security in the UK and making a secret trip to war-torn Ukraine. That coupled with wife Meghan launching her podcast series, Confessions of a Female Founder, as well as launching the first batch of products from her lifestyle brand As Ever, means life has been busier than ever for the Sussexes.
But Harry has still found time to carve out family time with Meghan and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet by enjoying a spring break family getaway in recent weeks. The children are at the centre of Harry’s world with insiders describing their home life as “their happy bubble”.
The children are now often carefully featured in Meghan’s Instagram posts, helping her to bake cookies in the kitchen, collect berries from their vast garden’s fruit bushes and whip up breakfast for the family.
And the Sussexes’ precious family time together looks set to continue when Harry’s eldest Archie turns six in the coming weeks. Mum Meghan showcased her hosting skills on her recent Netflix series With Love, Meghan, and even revealed how for one of Archie’s previous birthdays she created him an impressive rainbow balloon arch.
And former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes this bodes well for Archie having an incredible birthday celebration next week. She told OK!: “I’m sure Harry and Meghan will make his birthday magical and Meghan will obviously make it all very pretty and tasteful as well!”
However, any gathering may well be tinged with sadness for dad Harry as neither his estranged father King Charles nor brother Prince William, with his wife Kate and their children are likely to be involved in any celebrations. Despite Harry publicly declaring he would love to have his royal relatives back in his life, the rift between them could not be wider, meaning any trips by them to visit California seem to be out of the question for now.
At the same time, Harry is said to be desperate to bring Archie and his daughter three-year-old Lilibet to the UK, but he deems it too dangerous due to a change to his family’s police protection arrangements in Britain. Earlier this month, Harry was in London at the Court of Appeal as he is challenging the decision regarding his security. His legal battle is said to be a fight all about his desire to ensure his children are protected so he can bring them to the UK and allow them to get to know their heritage.
And Jennie believes it’s a fight Harry is determined to face head-on for his children – despite the costs. She explains: “I think Harry is sincere when he says he wants his children to know and understand their heritage. And he has said publicly that he wants his father and his brother back in his life.
“But we now also know that this issue of security is like a red rag to a bull for Harry. He says it is more important than any of his other legal battles. He has a deep-rooted sense of injustice – he believes there was some kind of conspiracy to keep him ‘trapped’ within the Royal Family and to prevent him and his family from leaving the UK. And he seems intent on proving that to be the case.”
While the fight rumbles on for Harry, Archie and Lilibet continue to grow up without knowing many of their royal relatives, including their cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. At one point, William and brother Harry seemed to be as close as can be as they navigated their grief together after their late mother Princess Diana’s death.
They appeared to retain their close bond as they got married and had families of their own but a breakdown in relations ensued when Harry and Meghan opted out of royal life. And for Jennie, the current state of affairs which sees William and Harry bring up their children on the opposite sides of the Atlantic without speaking, would have once been unthinkable.
“I always imagined Harry and William remaining close and enjoying watching their children grow up together”, she explains. “And I guess there must be times when they both think the same. But there is absolutely no sign of the cousins ever getting to know one another.
“Harry probably has more time and reason than William to think about the rift that he has caused and I’m sure it is a great sadness to him. But he has chosen a different life in a different country, and that looks as if it is where he will stay.”
Meanwhile, another relative to be missing out on Harry’s children getting older is their grandfather, King Charles. The monarch, who is still undergoing cancer treatment, previously told friends he is not content with only seeing his youngest grandchildren on video calls after meeting Archie only a handful of times and Lilibet once.
It wasn’t always such a fraught relationship – especially with Archie – with the King saying he “couldn’t be more delighted” when he was born in May 2019. When he was christened, the King’s former Clarence House Instagram account shared a touching photo of Charles proudly gazing at Archie.
However, as Harry and Meghan decided to dramatically quit as working royals and up sticks from the UK and move to the United States in early 2020, the King has spent little time with his young grandson. Their last meeting was in 2022 when Archie came to the UK with his parents during the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Speaking about this meeting at the time, a source revealed how much it meant to the King, explaining: “The prince [King Charles], of course, hasn’t seen his grandson Archie for a bit of time and so it was very, very, very special to have some time with him. He hadn’t met Lili, his granddaughter, and so to meet her was very emotional, a very, very wonderful thing.”
And Jennie believes it is still a “great sadness” for the King to be a stranger to his two grandchildren – as well as it seems these days to his youngest son, Harry. She says: “He always loved Harry – he called him ‘darling boy’. And I’m sure he still does love Harry and would love even more to be able to spend time with Archie and Lilibet.
“Charles is a sentimental man and a doting grandfather to George, Charlotte and Louis. And I’m sure as his struggle with cancer continues, he thinks more about the great loss of not being able to spend time with Harry’s children.
“Well, it would be very nice if the King, and William and Catherine, marked young Archie‘s sixth birthday in some way. After all, it’s not the poor little lad’s fault that all this has happened. So I hope that, either publicly or privately, they do at least send the little boy their good wishes.”
When it comes to Harry and his dad the King, their relationship too seems to be at a low ebb with their relationship described as “distant”. Harry’s calls and letters are said to have gone unanswered and the King is said to be keeping his distance to avoid being drawn into discussions about security, with his youngest son.
The security issue has long been considered to be a sticking point towards improving family relations between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family, especially the King.
And Jennie says: “Harry must realise by now that he has put his father in an extraordinarily difficult position – suing the King’s own government. And that makes life – or indeed any conversation at all with Harry – very difficult for Charles.
“I wonder whether Harry realised at the start of this case just how hard it would make any communication with his father. Once the appeal judges have handed down their verdict, it will presumably be time for all those concerned to reassess the situation and see whether family relations can be improved. Harry certainly hasn’t made things any easier by insisting on taking this court case to the highest level.”
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