Will Prince Harry and Meghan return to UK after Prince Philip’s death?

Will Harry go back to the UK? Family friend says he’ll ‘want nothing more’ than to be with the Queen after Prince Philip’s death despite bombshell Oprah interview with Meghan which aired a month ago while his grandfather was gravely ill in hospital

  • Prince Philip died on Friday April 9 at the age of 99, the Queen has announced
  • Prince Harry, his grandson, has not been back to the UK since March 2020 
  • He and wife Meghan Markle have lived in exile in Canada and California 
  • They quit royal life and last month gave an extraordinary interview about the royal family, alleging racism and claiming relatives were ‘trapped’ by the institution 
  • Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth ‘in the summer’ 
  • The Oprah interview aired when Philip was in the hospital and gravely ill 
  • The pair claimed they had a good relationship with the Queen and Meghan said she phoned Her Majesty when Philip’s health deteriorated
  • What kind of relationship they have with the rest of the family remains in question  

Prince Philip‘s death on Friday could send Prince Harry and Meghan Markle back to the UK for the first time in a year, weeks after they gave a devastating interview to Oprah alleging racism in the Royal Family which aired while Prince Philip was in hospital. 

The couple left the UK in March 2020, quitting ‘senior’ royal duties to pursue a ‘private life’.  

Since then, they have launched a charity, accepted lucrative business deals with Netflix and Spotify, given public talks, appeared on Zoom conferences, and on March 7, they trashed the Royal Family in a sit-down interview with Oprah that was viewed around the world. 

Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth sometime in the summer but she has not disclosed exactly when. The couple has not commented on any plan to return to the UK. 

A source close to the family told DailyMail.com on Friday: ‘Harry will absolutely do his utmost to get back to the UK and be with his family. 

‘He will want nothing more than to be there for his family, and particularly his grandmother, during this awful time.

‘Meghan is obviously pregnant so she will need to take advice from her doctors about whether it is safe for her to travel, but I think Harry will definitely go.’ 

What kind of reception they will receive after their extraordinary interview and behavior over the last year is uncertain.   

The most damaging claim they made during the Oprah interview was that someone in the family made comments to Harry, expressing ‘concern’ over their son Archie’s skin tone. Meghan also suggested that the concern was why Archie would not be given the title of Prince.

Harry, Meghan Markle and Prince Philip on Christmas Day 2017. The couple has not been in the UK since March last year

Harry would not reveal who in the family said it, but Oprah said after the interview aired that he assured her, off camera, it was neither the Queen nor Prince Philip. 

There was enormous criticism of the fact the interview aired on CBS at a time when Prince Philip was gravely ill in the hospital. The pair filmed it weeks beforehand. 

CBS host Gayle King, who is a close friend of Oprah, claimed afterwards that the pair had a contingency plan that if Prince Philip’s condition worsened, the interview would not have aired. 

It has not been confirmed by TV networks that that is the case. 

The interview was sold by CBS to dozens of countries around the world, and CBS paid a reported $8million for it. 

The Queen said after the interview that the allegations were ‘concerning’ and that she would address them within Buckingham Palace. 

While Harry claimed in the interview to have always had a good relationship with the Queen, it’s unclear what kind of relationship, if any, he now has with Prince William and his father, Prince Charles. 

Meghan claimed during the interview that contrary to public reports based on palace sources, she did not make Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, cry during the run-up to her wedding and that it was Kate who made her cry instead. 

She also claimed that she’d been trapped by the ‘institution’ and was at one point suicidal but that when she sought mental health help, she was told she could not have it. 

The Royal Family has not commented on those claims.  

Prince Philip's death comes just a month after Harry and Meghan gave an interview to Oprah in which they alleged racism in the Royal Family. It aired when Philip was in the hospital

Prince Philip’s death comes just a month after Harry and Meghan gave an interview to Oprah in which they alleged racism in the Royal Family. It aired when Philip was in the hospital