The Duke of Sussex fears his children will not meet King Charles in the coming days after their visit to the UK was “cut out from under them at the 11th hour”.
Prince Harry and Meghan were planning their first family trip to the UK in four years for events linked to the Invictus Games, which were due to take place in Birmingham in July.
The Duke was reportedly delighted to reunite Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, with King Charles during a visit early next month.
However, the family’s trip now appears uncertain after the government rejected his request for police protection outside royal residences.
A source close to Harry said on Sunday that the prince was “distraught” at the development and that he would not subject his children to being “followed by paparazzi wherever they go from the moment they step off the plane.”
They said Harry was considering other travel options but feared it would not be possible without proper security measures.
A source told the Guardian: “Their plans to see family, friends and attend various charity events close to the Duke’s heart have been ripped out from under them at the 11th hour. He is looking at all options to try to get the family here safely once they are on the ground. If he can find a way to do it, he will.”
“The hope is that they will be able to meet their grandfather, but that won’t happen if paparazzi follow them everywhere they go from the moment they step off the plane. He won’t put his children through that ordeal.”
The visit would have been the first time Charles had seen his youngest grandchildren in person since 2022, during celebrations of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
Last year Harry lost his legal battle against the Home Office over automatic police protection while in the UK, having previously argued it was unsafe to bring his family without it.
He has since been provided with a full risk assessment and has been awaiting a final decision from the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravetz), the Home Office committee responsible for authorizing such protection.
Rawek’s decisions are made by an independent chairman and includes representatives from the Royal Family, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Metropolitan Police.
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The interior minister, in this case Shabana Mahmoud, is not involved in Rawek’s individual decisions.
A government spokesman said on Sunday: “The UK Government’s security framework is rigorous and proportionate. It has been our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information about these arrangements as this could compromise their integrity and impact on the safety of individuals.”
Harry met his father last September at Clarence House in London, their first meeting in person since February 2024. This was seen as the first step towards improving relations between them.
A Los Angeles-based business partner of Harry and Meghan’s who lives in Montecito, California, told the Telegraph there had been a “thaw of frost” between the king and his youngest son following Harry’s public attacks in his Spare memoir and television interviews.