Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly considering flying Archie and Lilibet to the Queen's funeral.
In a twist of fate, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who had been living in California, across the ocean from England, for more than two years, happened to be in Harry's home country when his grandmother, the Queen, died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday.
The weekend before, the Sussexes had traveled without their children Archie and Lilibet to become involved with a close charity for several days. On Monday, the couple traveled to Manchester for the One Young World Summit, and on Tuesday they headed to Düsseldorf, Germany for the kickoff of the Invictus Games 2023. On Thursday, Harry and Meghan were scheduled to attend the Well Child Awards in London, but cancelled due to the rapidly deteriorating health of Her Majesty the Queen.
The couple now plans to remain in the UK not only until the Queen's funeral, which will be held at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday, September 19, but also during the seven-day mourning period following the funeral, with their return to the US scheduled for later this month. (This extended stay in the UK will also include a low-key celebration of Harry's 38th birthday on September 15, exactly one week after Her Majesty's death.)
According to The Sun, he may be away from his small children for too long and may have to fly Archie, 3, and Lili, 1, in for the funeral.
"The Sussexes are said to be trying to decide whether Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, should fly out with the children at some point next week. Doria is said to be taking care of Archie and Lilibet at the Montecito residence." The family has already spent more than a week apart, and the state funeral is not for another eight days. Meghan and Harry will then stay until the end of the royal mourning period, which ends seven days after the funeral; the two had planned to be away from home for only seven days for a mini European tour.
Archie was born in the UK in May 2019 and met Her Majesty the Queen soon after his birth. Lilibet, named after the Queen's family nickname, met her great-grandmother this June, on her exact first birthday, when the family of four flew to the UK to attend the Platinum Jubilee celebrations surrounding the Queen's historic 70-year reign.
Comments