Prince Harry will return to the United States shortly after the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, as he does not want to separate from his pregnant wife Meghan Markle for too long.
The Duke of Sussex is not scheduled to spend much time in the UK after service on Saturday.
His wife, who is expecting her daughter in early summer, was barred from being accompanied by a doctor’s order. And we are told that Harry will be back in a hurry to California to reunite with Markle and his little son Archie.
Although it is not known what visa Harry is on, or whether he has applied for his green card in accordance with current guidelines, he must have applied for a national interest exception to travel home by funeral, an immigration lawyer told us. However, there are also exceptions for those who marry U.S. citizens.
You will also need to comply with COVID standards when you return to the United States. The current guidelines state that all visitors to the country must provide a negative test conducted within three days of the trip.
It’s the first time Harry has returned to the UK since he and Markle left real life last year. And it will be the first time he has seen his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, his father Prince Charles, Prince William’s brother, sister-in-law Kate Middleton and the rest of his family since March last year.
Markle had longed to join her husband desperately and made every effort to get the trip signed, sources told us. The fact that she is not there means that Harry has to face them all alone after the couple made bomb claims about their separation from the royal family to Oprah Winfrey last month.
During the interview, Harry told Winfrey that, despite everything, he still has great affection for his brother.
“Like I said before, I love William to pieces,” he said. “We’ve been through hell together and we have a shared experience, but we’re going down different paths.”
Harry is currently in quarantine at his home in Sussexes, Windsor, Frogmore Cottage, where his cousin Eugenie and his family live. On Sunday he flew to Heathrow Airport in London on a scheduled British Airways flight, accompanied by security.
A representative of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment.