Prince Harry ‘would love’ to spend more time in the UK going forward and has told his delighted father it could even be every few months in 2026, it emerged today.

But the Duke of Sussex insists that he will never move back to Britain because ‘he’s genuinely very happy in California‘.

In response, King Charles is said to have been ‘absolutely clear’ that his youngest son cannot be a ‘half-in, half-out’ working royal – and Harry is said to swear blind that there is ‘no move’ being made ‘to be back in the institution‘.

The monarch desperately wants a relationship with his youngest son – and especially his grandchildren Lilibet and Archie – with insiders claiming Charles may even be willing to offer the Sussexes their own pied-à-terre in Britain.

‘There are plenty of empty properties on the estate. The Royal Family is not exactly short of accommodation at the moment. But I don’t think being next door to William and Kate would go down too well’, a well-connected source told the Daily Mail.

Whether Meghan would come appears much less likely. And if she did, the duchess would probably prefer a place in the celeb-heavy Cotswolds as their UK base, away from royal eyes, it is said.

An insider said of Meghan: ‘I’d say the Cotswolds would be somewhere they might look if they were thinking about a home outside the royal estate’.

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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend a National Service of Thanksgiving for the Queens reign at St Pauls Cathedral on June 3, 2022. There were cheers but also boos from the crowds at the church

Harry is said to swear blind that there is ‘no move’ being made by him ‘to be back in the institution’.

‘His wife and kids are there; his life is there’, a Sussex insider has claimed when asked about leaving Montecito.

The source told the Telegraph: ‘Harry would love to come back to the UK more. His plans are driven by the causes that he supports – if they say, “We’d really like you to come over”, he will try to make it work. It’s driven by the requests. He would love to do as much as possible’.

The shift from Harry on being in Britain more has hastened a potential reunion between his children and their grandfather.

Tongues in royal circles are already wagging about where Harry, Archie and Lilibet might stay if the reconciliation continues apace – and whether Meghan Markle would consider joining them.

The Duchess of Sussex was booed when the couple visited London in 2022 before the Queen died – and she has not come back since amid her husband’s legal battle for 24/7 Met Police protection.

Harry is now being tipped to return to the UK with his family next year. He also has his Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027, an event close to his heart that will require him to spend more time in Britain.

While the California-based royal has no plans to move back, a royal insider has told the Daily Mail that given the couple’s history with the Palace and their aides, the Duchess of Sussex might want a private home in the Cotswolds away from The Firm.

Harry’s father will likely have told him that if he stays at a royal palace such Kensington Palace or Windsor Castle they will be automatically guarded by armed officers, including at Frogmore Cottage.

If Charles formally invites the Sussexes to stay with him armed taxpayer-funded security will likely be reinstated from the moment they land because they would be his guests, multiple security sources have said.

And Harry might be tempted to stay at a royal home as long as he manages to avoid his brother and sister-in-law, the source added.

‘Security is obviously still a big issue for the Sussexes. So stays within the occupied Royal Palaces estate would make sense because then they would be within the security perimeter’, they said.

The Daily Mail’s source has claimed that Meghan would need a great deal of convincing.

And she is known to love the Cotswolds having spent time there after moving to the UK when she became engaged to Harry.

The area has become a magnet for rich liberal Americans including Ellen DeGeneres and most recently Beyonce and Jay-Z. The Duchess spent time there when she was dating Harry, including at the luxurious Soho Farmhouse beloved by stars.

Harry is believed to have stayed in hotels or with friends when in the UK in recent years.

The Duke of Sussex, 41, had claimed that Britain was too dangerous for him to risk bringing Meghan, Archie and Lilibet to the country of his birth.

Speaking in Kyiv earlier this month Harry confirmed the Daily Mail’s story that he will now consider returning to the UK with Archie and Lilibet after seeing his father at Clarence House for tea.

‘Yes I would. This week has definitely brought that closer’, he said.

A royal insider has told the Daily Mail that one of the things that may have been discussed with the King was Harry’s security.

In a shock interview with the BBC in May after he lost his High Court battle with the Home Office for taxpayer-funded security, the Duke of Sussex said: ‘I can only come to the UK safely if I’m invited… there is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands’.

One security source close to the Met Police’s Royal Protection command told the Daily Mail today: ‘Once Harry and his family are properly reconciled with the King, Charles can click his fingers and hey presto the armed bodyguards would reappear if they were visiting him.

‘Everything changes with a formal invite from the King’.

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Meghan at Soho Farmhouse with Millie Mackintosh in 2017

The King is apparently ‘delighted’ that his Eton-educated youngest son is said to be considering sending his children to one of England’s great public schools when they get older.

This could also mean that the Sussexes might want a British base.

A return to Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle shouldn’t be completely dismissed, the Daily Mail’s royal source speculated, especially because the King’s plan to move Prince Andrew there from his larger Royal Lodge appears to have failed.

Frogmore was said to have been ‘hated’ by Meghan who reportedly considered it too small – but it was their last permanent home in the UK, where Archie lived as a baby and is close to Heathrow Airport.

‘Letting them use Frogmore Cottage again might be the obvious option if – and it’s still quite a big if – Harry starts bringing his family over again and it becomes regular’, the source said.

‘Frogmore, the Sussexes’ former home, is still empty. Could that be made available to them again? I don’t think that can be ruled out, as the plan to shift Prince Andrew into the house has clearly collapsed and, as far as we know, nobody else has been lined up to move in’.

The source added: ‘Adelaide Cottage is about to become free when William and Kate move into Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park towards the end of the year‘.

There are also multiple empty flats at Kensington Palace.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester’s former home, apartment 1, is empty.

‘There are several at Kensington Palace that are being done up. That’s next door to William and Kate’s apartment, although they rarely use it’, the source said.

‘Another apartment at Kensington Palace currently being refurbished is the former home of the Milford Havens, where Prince Philip spent his last night as a bachelor before marrying the then Princess Elizabeth.

‘But Kensington Palace also houses the offices of the Prince and Princess of Wales so anywhere there may not be a good idea, unless the two brothers heal their divisions’.

There is accommodation at Clarence House, the King’s London home, and St James’s Palace next door.

‘Once the £369million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace is completed there will be rooms available there and, if the King and Queen move into Buckingham Palace as originally promised, will they still need Clarence House as their London residence?

‘The Royal Household has been letting out rooms at St James’s Palace, next door to Clarence House. There may be space there’.

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Archie at Frogmore with his parents in the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan

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Lilibet at Frogmore in a picture taken to mark her first birthday in 2022

But whether Meghan will want to come with them remains another matter, given she hasn’t returned to the UK since the Queen’s death in September 2022 and concerns about how she might be received by the public after she was heckled outside St Paul’s Cathedral earlier that year.

Another pull for Harry is said to be Britain’s private schools.

The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden revealed that Harry wants to give his son, Prince Archie, and daughter, Princess Lilibet, a taste of his own childhood back home.

‘I can tell you that Harry wants to educate the children here in the UK,’ one of his friends said.

The old friend discussed the subject with King Charles’s younger son during his visit to Britain last week.

‘Harry feels his children are missing out on the extensive family network that their niece and nephews are enjoying,’ they explained referring to the Prince and Princess of Wales’s offspring, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven, who currently all attend the same public school, £32,000-per-year Lambrook in Berkshire.

‘Harry wants his children to have the very best education. He has retained his closest friendship group of confidants from his days at school at Ludgrove and Eton. He wants that for his own children.’

Harry may, however, have a challenge selling his plan to his wife, Meghan, who is said to consider sending children to boarding school ‘barbaric’.

The friend conceded: ‘There is still some negotiation for Harry to have with Meghan. The King, however, is delighted.’

That comment suggests that the Duke has mentioned his British education plan to his father.

But it is clear that it will not be Eton.

A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said this week: ‘Prince Harry has not put his son’s name down for Eton, nor does he have any plans to do so’.