Meghan Markle's UK return 'would need to be carefully curated' as Prince Harry security decision looms

Fintan Starkey

By Fintan Starkey


Published: 07/01/2026

- 16:08

Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in the coming weeks

Meghan Markle’s return to the UK would have to be carefully curated and monitored if Prince Harry’s security request gets approved, according to a royal commentator.

The Duke of Sussex has reportedly won his battle for armed police protection when he is in the UK, after asking Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for a review in September.


Sources close to the Home Office claim it will now be granted. Harry had stated it was “impossible” to bring the Duchess of Sussex and his two children to the UK without a security detail, but with that set to change, questions surrounding Meghan’s return to the UK have been raised.

The Duchess of Sussex has not visited the UK since the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022, and former BBC royal commentator Jennie Bond has claimed any return for Meghan “would need to be carefully curated and monitored."

Bond added: "She may not be in the same physical danger, but she’s more likely to be the target of a verbal backlash than Harry.

Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle's return to the UK would have to be "carefully curated"

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“If I were her, I’d give the UK a miss. She’s clearly happy at home in California. Why wouldn’t she be?

“She’s wealthy, she has a husband who adores her and children she loves. Why court hostility over here?

“Harry and the kids can pop over and see Grandpa. Archie and Lilibet can take a peek inside the Palace walls their ancestors have inhabited. And then they can all head back to the sunshine.”

Bond went on to say: “I think most people would be glad to see our old King reunited with the son he called his ‘darling boy’ and with the grandchildren he barely knows.

“I am less convinced that the public is ready for Meghan Part Two,” she wrote in the I.

Harry is set to make a return to the UK in the coming weeks as his High Court privacy case against Associated Newspapers Limited.

Prince Harry

Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in coming weeks

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The Duke of Sussex will travel from his home in California for the trial opening, currently scheduled for around January 19.

However, when he returns to the UK, a reunion with King Charles appears unlikely sources have told The Telegraph.

The monarch is expected to be at his Scottish residence during the relevant dates, as he typically steps back from official engagements throughout much of January.

Charles reportedly has no desire to be connected with any legal proceedings and would prefer to keep his distance from his younger son on this occasion.

This stands in contrast to their last meeting in September, when the pair spent 50 minutes together at Clarence House.

Prince Harry, King Charles

Prince Harry is not set meet with King Charles when he returns to the UK

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That encounter, their first in 19 months, was viewed as meaningful progress amid the ongoing family estrangement.

The trial is expected to run for nine weeks, with costs projected to exceed £38million.