The Duchess of Sussex may return to the U.K. with Prince Harry — if their security is assured

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala on December 06, 2022 in New York City.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala on Dec. 6, 2022 in New York City.Credit : Mike Coppola/Getty

Meghan Markle could join Prince Harry in the U.K. for the first time since 2022 this summer.

The Duke of Sussex, 41, is expected to be in Birmingham, England, for the one-year-to-go celebrations for his Invictus Games kick off.

However, his hopes that he will have Meghan, 44, alongside him likely hinge on whether he receives the upgrade to his security in his home country. A review is currently underway.

For most of the previous iterations of his Paralympic-style games, Prince Harry has been accompanied by his wife. She has also attended the countdown promotions, such as in Vancouver, Canada, in February 2024. They were also both in Düsseldorf, Germany, for the one-year-to-go events in September 2022.

No decision has been made on whether the Duchess of Sussex will be in Birmingham for the celebrations in July, but a major consideration will be whether Prince Harry gets his wish for increased taxpayer-backed security.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex pose for a photo during Game Four of the 2025 World Series presented by Capital One between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on an outing to the World Series at Dodger Stadium in Oct. 2025.Joe Scarnici/MLB Photos via Getty

A representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had no comment on Jan. 12.

Prince Harry, who has long campaigned for the reinstatement of his full security cover since stepping 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.

“Security is always going to be a deciding factor in this,” a source was quoted in The Sun on Sunday on Jan. 11.

Harry is next expected in the U.K. solo ahead of the start of his latest legal case against Associated Newspapers, which starts in a London court on Jan. 19. He is reported to be giving evidence early in the case, which is expected to last around nine weeks.

The Duke of Sussex and his team are 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 unlikely to come before his arrival for the legal case.

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

Prince Harry leaves the High Court in London in April 2025.Belinda Jiao/Getty

Then, they had headed across the Atlantic Ocean for a series of charity events. The Queen died during that time, and they extended their stay abroad for the funeral.

Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who are being raised in Montecito, California, have only been back to the U.K. once since the couple left to settle in the U.S in 2020: for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.

Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, King Charles III, Camilla, Queen Consort, Princess Anne, Princess Royal and Princess Beatrice observe the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it is transferred from the gun carriage to the hearse at Wellington Arch following the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 in London, England.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.Andy Stenning – WPA Pool/Getty

Harry lost his full security cover when he and Meghan stepped back from frontline royal duties in 2020. In May 2025, he lost an appeal over the issue. It emerged during that case that Harry, Meghan and their family had not had an assessment since 2019.

But in October 2025, the Duke of Sussex made another approach, making a personal appeal to the British government minister in charge of policing and crime prevention in Britain, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

His ongoing struggle to reinstate the security cover has contributed to Harry’s estrangement from his father, King Charles, as he has believed that the monarch could influence the decision. (The palace has consistently denied that the King, 77, has the power to have that security reinstated.)

In July 2025, the CEO of the Birmingham games, Helen Helliwell, told PEOPLE that she hopes the King, as head of the armed forces in the U.K., will be there when the games kick off in July 2027. The royal family members are “supporters of the Armed Forces. They’ve been supporters of Invictus since [the Invictus Games’] inception in 2014,” she said.

“It’s too soon to confirm who’s going to be there. But obviously, we’d be delighted if members of the royal family were able to attend and would very much welcome their presence in a couple of years’ time,” she said.