Prince Harry has not been in the good graces of the royal family.
Now a trip he’d planned to go back to London just went off the rails.
And Prince Harry turned down this generous offer for his trip back to England.
Turned down offer to stay at Palace
Prince Harry planned a trip back to London for his trial against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun.
Reportedly, the Duke of Sussex was offered a chance to stay at Buckingham Palace during the trip, but he turned the offer down ahead of the now-settled trial’s start.
Harry canceled the trip after a very lucrative eight-figure settlement was accepted for Harry and former Member of Parliament Tom Watson, who was also part of the lawsuit.
As a result of the settlement, Harry decided he would no longer return to London.
Nevertheless, Harry was to be given “limited police protection” during the trip.
Harry had been stripped of tax-payer funded security for his trips returning to the U.K. in 2020.
Last year, he lost a battle with the High Court to get his security reinstated.
Sir Peter Lane, the judge of the High Court, had ruled that there was no unlawfulness in the decision to strip Harry and Meghan of their royal security in 2020.
He is continuing to appeal the Court’s decision in that case.
As a result of losing the Court case, Harry was also ordered to pay 90% of the UK Home Office’s legal costs.
Not returning at all
It is unclear where the Duke of Sussex had planned to stay during the now-nixed, trip but he would have reportedly been provided with armed officers from the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command.
Prince Harry last visited London in May 2024 for a three-day visit in which he stayed at a hotel.
During that trip, his father, King Charles, also offered to allow him to stay at Buckingham Palace, and Prince Harry declined.
During the last trip, Prince Harry attended the funeral of his uncle Lord Robert Fellowes in the town of Snettisham, located in the county of Norfolk.
During that stay, he stayed at Althorp House, the childhood home of his late mother Princess Diana which is now owned by her brother, Charles Spencer.
Harry and Meghan no longer have their own royal residence in England after they were forced to turn over the keys to Frogmore Cottage in 2023.
One would think that given his lack of options, Prince Harry would have taken the King up on his offer to stay at the palace.
The Duke of Sussex has had strained relations with the rest of the royal family ever since he released his book Spare, which was critical of the family and made several accusations embarrassing to the family whether true or not.
Many blame Harry’s wife as being a main cause of the falling out.
Recently, British tabloids have reported their marriage is on the rocks.
It seemed clear Markle would not join Harry on this trip back to London, had he gone through with it despite securing the payout.
King Charles made a nice gesture offering Harry a place to stay and to provide him with security, even though the courts have ruled that he didn’t have to.
It remains to be seen if Harry will ever repair his strained relationship with the rest of the royal family.
Harry could have still taken the trip even though he’d already settled the court case and used the King’s overture to start repairing the relationship but it seems mending fences wasn’t on his heart.
