Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ‘WON’T visit Queen at Balmoral despite invite’
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle will not visit the Queen during her summer break at Balmoral, it is claimed.
Royal staff had been told to expect the couple and their kids after Her Majesty extended an olive branch - but the Sussexes are said to not be attending.
Staff at the Scottish Highlands estate were ordered to prepare for the US-based family to join the Queen, including three-year-old Archie and Lilibet, one, in the next two months.
A Balmoral insider said: "Staff have been told to expect the full list of royals including Harry, Meghan and their children.
"They are preparing for the Sussexes."
But the family, who say they have not been invited, are not expected to join Harry's grandmother during her annual getaway, reports.
READ MORE ROYAL NEWS
Royal commentator Phil Dampier said: "It's a snub, but I don't think it's any more or less of a snub than their general attitude in the round to be honest.
"I'm sure the Queen did invite them and there is an open invitation, but it doesn't surprise me that they're not going.
"If they really wanted to make it up with their families, they would drop Harry's book deal, stop making a fly-on-the-wall documentary, visit Meghan's dad before he dies in Mexico and return to the UK.
Most read in The Sun
"There's all sorts of things they could do but they're not doing them which indicates they've made their bed and they want to lie in it.
"They're going to carry on making money and doing whatever they perceive is right for them, which is not what's right for either of their families."
Author Phil added that he could also understand the couple not making a special trip over to Scotland as Meghan would be "bored out of her mind" staying at Balmoral.
"It very much revolves around hunting, shooting and fishing which she's vehemently against and has turned Harry against," he said.
"She stopped him doing those pleasures he used to have, rightly or wrongly, and I don't think she would want to spend time there at all.
"I didn't think Meghan would ever come back to the UK and obviously she came for the Platinum Jubilee, but I think that was more to do with getting a bit of the Queen's stardust magic rubbing off on them and for their Netflix programme rather than any attempt to heal the rift with William, Charles or the rest of the family.
"There's nothing in it for them to visit the Queen over the summer."
Harry and Meghan will carry on making money and doing whatever they perceive is right for them, not their families
Phil Dampier
Her Maj, 96, arrived in Aberdeenshire on Thursday and is set to stay for 10 weeks at seven-bed Craigowan Lodge, which has a newly-fitted ‘wheelchair-friendly’ lift to assist with her ongoing mobility problems.
Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, quit the UK in spring 2020 and have not been to Balmoral to see the Queen since 2018.
The Duke and Duchess visited Britain for June’s Platinum Jubilee but did not stay for the full weekend and were kept in the background for the Buckingham Palace balcony appearance during Trooping the Colour.
One insider said: "Balmoral is the perfect place for them to spend a little bit of quality time with the Queen.
"They barely had 15 minutes with her at the Jubilee."
But another source told The Sun on Sunday: "I would be stunned if they did turn up."
Princess Eugenie previously told how Balmoral was "the most beautiful place on earth".
She said on ITV documentary Our Queen at Ninety in 2016: "I think Granny is most happy there.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
"She really, really loves the Highlands - walks, picnics, dogs, a lot of dogs, and people coming in and out all the time."
Representatives for the Sussexes have been approached for comment.
