Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Prince Harry

Prince William and Kate Middleton; Prince Harry.Credit : Samir Hussein/WireImage, Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

 

Prince Harry returns to London next week, but most of his family will be out of town.

The Duke of Sussex, 41, will be back in the U.K. for the opening of his High Court trial, the final legal step in his series of lawsuits against Associated Newspapers.

However, on Jan. 21, Prince William, 43, and Kate Middleton, 44, have a joint engagement in Scotland, taking them hundreds of miles from the English capital.

The royal couple will first visit the National Curling Academy in Stirling to meet with Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic curling teams ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games.

They will then visit Radical Weavers in Stirling, a working handweaving studio that doubles as a charity where patrons learn about the heritage of Scottish tartan and benefit from the therapeutic qualities of weaving while creating blankets and textiles to give back to those in need.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, known as the Duchess of Rothesay while in Scotland, Prince William, Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay while in Scotland attend the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III and Queen Camilla, and the presentation of the Honours of Scotland, at St Giles' Cathedral on July 5, 2023

Kate Middleton and Prince William in Edinburgh, Scotland on July 5, 2023.Jane Barlow – Pool/Getty

Meanwhile, Prince Harry is expected to be in court for most of the week, as he joins several high-profile figures, including pop star Elton John, actress Elizabeth Hurley and Jude Law’s ex-wife Sadie Frost, in suing Associated Newspapers (ANL) — the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday — for alleged illegal information gathering.

Associated Newspapers has “vigorously” denied the allegations, the BBC previously reported.

Harry is also not expected to see his father, King Charles, while he is in London.

The father and son had their first in-person meeting in 18 months during Harry’s last visit to the U.K. in September. However, the monarch is also in Scotland, with an engagement at the Palace of Holyroodhouse scheduled for Jan. 19.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leaves the Royal Courts of Justice on April 8, 2025 in London, England

Prince Harry leaves courts in London in April 2025.Belinda Jiao/Getty

Prince Harry — along with his wife, Meghan Markle, 44, and their two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4 — may soon be making more returns to the country of his birth.

The Duke of Sussex previously said that he didn’t feel safe bringing his family to the U.K. after his full-time security was stripped when he and Meghan stepped back from their roles as working royals in 2020.

Earlier this month, however, insiders told PEOPLE that there were “positive” indications coming from the government about a reversal of that decision. At the time, the sources were cautiously hopeful that the decision would be made to once again grant him a taxpayer-funded security cover.