Meghan Markle to 'use Archie and Lilibet as a shield' to avoid backlash on UK return

Fintan Starkey

By Fintan Starkey


Published: 18/01/2026

- 15:13

Sources close to Buckingham Palace have claimed they cannot interfere with Prince Harry's security review

Meghan Markle will bring Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to the UK as a shield, should Prince Harry’s security review be granted, a royal commentator has claimed.

Meghan has not been seen in the UK since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, with Archie and Lilibet last being in the UK for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations that June.


Harry’s security status is currently under review and will play a major role in whether the rest of the Sussexes will return to the UK, something Harry has characterised as “impossible” without security.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams exclusively claimed to GB News: “Meghan will manage to shield some of her unpopularity by bringing Archie and Lilibet to the UK.

Meghan Markle

Richard Fitzwilliams has claimed that Meghan will use her children to shield herself from a potentially hostile return to the UK

|

GETTY

“Her poll ratings are terrible, and the rift with the royal family will cause the press to be hostile.

“We know all of the problems with the couple, but we do not know how they will resolve it.”

Meghan may return to the UK in the coming months as the one-year-to-go celebration will take place in Birmingham for Harry’s Invictus Games.

A source close to the duchess revealed: “Security is always going to be a deciding factor in this.”

Meghan joined Harry during the celebrations of one year to go in Vancouver in September 2024, and she was also present for the same event in Düsseldorf in 2022.

No decision has been made on whether the duchess will attend the event in Birmingham, and a representative had no comment when approached.

Prince Harry, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet, Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle shared an image of the two children alongside Prince Harry on social media recently

|

INSTAGRAM

Initial claims believed that his new security detail would be “nailed on”, however, recent reports suggest otherwise.

A source familiar with the proceedings claimed: “I have no idea what the RMB (risk management board) recommendation to Ravec (the Royal and VIP executive committee) will be, but what I do know with certainty is that neither does anyone else, since they are still undertaking the review.

“On that basis, claims that a decision is already ‘nailed on’ seem more like an attempt to manipulate the media into manifesting an outcome from what will be a fair and rigorous review, but one that is very much still ongoing.

Insiders have previously claimed that if the security decision went against the Duke of Sussex, it would suggest "an intervention from the Palace".

The outcome of the review by Ravec is expected later this month.

The aide has hit back at the suggestion that the Palace could intervene, saying it is “both unjust and inaccurate”.

Prince Harry

Prince Harry is set to return to the UK on Monday as his court case begins against Associated Newspapers Limited

|
GETTY

They continued: “The palace has no such powers within Ravec. While they sit on the committee it is not their role to advise on threat analysis or appropriate mitigations.

“That is for the actual intelligence and security experts to advise on — as of course they do whenever the duke’s visits to the UK are being reviewed under the existing Ravec process.”