Prince Harry at Imperial College in London when he visited London for a series of charity events in Sept. 2025.Credit : Karwai Tang/WireImage

Prince Harry is likely to be back in the country of his birth for a special reason in the summer.

As the Duke of Sussex, 41, settles into life at home in the U.S. after the emotion of appearing in court in his latest legal battle against British tabloids, he will be looking ahead to a happier reason to be back in the U.K.

That is the Invictus Games, the international contest for wounded, injured and sick armed forces members and veterans.

In Birmingham this July, a series of events heralding the Invictus Games’ one-year countdown will take place. Prince Harry always attends, often with his wife, Meghan Markle, 44. She attended the countdown promotions in Vancouver, Canada, in February 2024, and the couple was also both in Düsseldorf, Germany, for the one-year-to-go events in September 2022.

Much is weighing on the legal battle that he is involved in, and nothing is confirmed about Harry’s official outings in the near future. With the trial being scheduled for nine weeks, the case (which is set to cost $50 million) should be well over by the time the Invictus Games holds its fanfare for the year-out celebration.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Vancouver in Feb. 2025.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Moreover, there is the security situation to consider. Prince Harry, who has long campaigned for the reinstatement of his full security cover that was removed when he and Meghan stepped back from the royal family in 2020, has made it plain in several interviews that he doesn’t feel safe bringing his wife and two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, without sufficient security support. His team is currently awaiting the decision on whether full-scale security will be reinstated for him and his family when they visit the U.K.

While those close to him are optimistic that it will rule in his favor and instigate a new security set-up for him, saying there are “positive” noises coming from the U.K. government, a decision is thought unlikely before the end of his legal case.

Prince Harry was in London from Jan. 19 for the first four days of the legal battle against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. He has joined with six other prominent people, including actress Elizabeth Hurley, whom the prince supported as she gave her evidence on Jan. 22, in accusing Associated Newspapers of illegal information gathering. The publishers strenuously deny the claim and say their stories were sourced legitimately.

Harry arrived back in California in time to accompany Meghan to Sundance for the premiere of their documentary Cookie Queens, of which they are executive producers.

Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Vancouver in Feb. 2025.Eric Charbonneau/Invictus Games Foundation via Getty

It will have been a welcome relief from the battle in court 76 of the High Court in London. Then, as he wound up his evidence on Jan. 21, Harry was brought to the verge of tears when he was asked how he and his family were coping amid the legal case.

“It’s a horrible experience,” Harry said as he concluded his testimony.

The Invictus Games will partly be held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, U.K. in July 2027.Getty

Turning to the judge, Justice Nicklin, he said, “By standing up here and taking a stand against them, this has continued to come after me,” Harry said, his voice cracking with emotion. “And they have made my wife’s life an absolute misery, my Lord.”

Asked earlier about the impact of the press coverage during the years-long legal fight, the prince said the situation had only intensified. “Through the course of this litigation, it’s only got worse, not better,” he told the court. “It’s fundamentally wrong to put all of us through all of this again. What’s required is an apology and some accountability.”