What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s U.K. Return Could Mean for the Royal Family’s Christmas Tradition
What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s U.K. Return Could Mean for the Royal Family’s Christmas Tradition
Rachel BurchfieldMon, August 24, 2026 at 4:49 PM UTC
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on August 7, 2026.Credit: GettyThe Gist -
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are unexpectedly moving back to the U.K. this month.
That said, invitations to royal family events like Christmas at Sandringham—a staple in the royal calendar each year—are not guaranteed for the Sussexes.
A new report from The Telegraph indicates that it’s “way too early” to guarantee that Harry and Meghan will be invited to family Christmas celebrations in four months.
They say in life, nothing is certain but death and taxes. Yes—and for royal followers, also this: one can expect the royal family to decamp to Balmoral every August, and Sandringham every Christmas, without fail.
It’s a guarantee that members of the royal family will head to Sandringham, their beloved Norfolk retreat, this December. What’s not a guarantee, however, is that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be joining them.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on April 14, 2026.Credit: Getty
It seems to be more of a possibility than ever, with the Sussexes moving back to the U.K. imminently. But, as a new report by The Telegraph pointed out, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “are not guaranteed an invitation to royal family gatherings, including Christmas at Sandringham.” They will also “not be automatically included in outings for non-working members of the family, despite moving back to Britain.” The guest list for Christmas in particular, according to the outlet, is “subject to a personal invitation from the king for all members of the family.”
Harry and Meghan only spent two Christmases at Sandringham together—in 2017, soon after their engagement was announced, and in 2018, their first married Christmas. In 2019, they were on holiday in Canada; every Christmas from 2020 forward has been spent at their home in Montecito, California, where they moved in 2020, the same year they stepped back from their working royal roles.
Prince William, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry on Christmas Day 2018.Credit: Getty
Conversely, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children are staples at Sandringham, save for every few years when they opt to spend the holiday with the Middletons, the Princess of Wales’s birth family, elsewhere.
On August 19, news broke that Harry, Meghan, and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet were moving back to the U.K. by the end of the month, in time for the children to begin school in September. The royal family is, at present, at Balmoral, their late summer retreat in Scotland; as The Telegraph reported, the Sussexes are not expected to join the family at Balmoral because of “the logistics of their move, although it has not been ruled out.”
It will be interesting to see how King Charles handles Christmas at Sandringham this year. His sons William and Harry have not spoken in nearly four years, since their grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022. It’s hard to believe that, unless there is a type of meetup before Christmas, a good icebreaker for the men would be at a family Christmas gathering.
Kate Middleton, Prince William, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry on December 25, 2017.Credit: Getty Images
That said, the king has always emphasized that Harry and Meghan would be members of the family, and as news of Harry and Meghan’s U.K. return plan broke, palace sources indicated that Charles was looking forward to seeing more of the Sussexes in a “private and personal capacity.”
Harry and Meghan will not return to the U.K. as working royals, and the “no half-in, half-out” mandate from Queen Elizabeth’s reign is poised to remain standing. Both Charles and William “are said to agree on upholding the late queen’s wishes,” The Telegraph reported.
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A source told the publication that it was “way too early” to confirm if or when Harry and Meghan would be included in royal family events, but “They will not attend official ones,” The Telegraph reported.
Sources speaking to The Times indicated that Harry and Meghan’s return isn’t expected to be “forever,” but rather “an extended period of time—it could be six months, it could be a year, it could be more—I don’t even think they know yet.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on August 15, 2024.Credit: Getty
“They might suddenly go: ‘Why don’t we try Canada for a while? Why don’t we try Australia?’” The source continued. “It’s one of the great things about being private individuals [that they can live where they choose].” It’s also notable that the family will retain their home in Montecito, as well as a vacation home in Portugal.
A huge factor in how much Harry and Meghan will be invited to royal family events hinges on William and Harry’s relationship, described as “in cold storage and not coming out anytime soon” by a source speaking to The Times.
“If those issues don’t heal, there’s a limit to how much they can be brought back into the royal fold,” the insider said of Harry and Meghan. The best-case scenario, according to the source, would include all sides agreeing to “a template for private royals plus,” the source said. “It needs them to be much more ‘private’ than ‘working,’ and be seen at family occasions, like Christmas at Sandringham. That requires William and Catherine to say ‘yes please,’ and how on earth does that happen?”
“Just saying it out loud sounds implausible,” the source added.
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton on July 10, 2018.Credit: Getty
A new report from Hello! noted that the idea of the Sussex family “being invited to Sandringham for Christmas is no longer out of the question” and “no longer feels quite so far-fetched,” though the report added, “Much would need to be forgiven and plenty of work done first.” As for reconciliation with the wider royal family, a friend of Harry and Meghan’s told the outlet, “One step at a time.”
“But having the opportunity to have relationships with friends and family that are harder from the other side of the world? The driver is there,” the friend continued. “I don’t think anything will be immediate. They’re obviously going to move and get the kids into school, and we’ll see how it goes from there. But I hope there’s a way that this could all work harmoniously. Hopefully, there is space for positive working opportunities for everybody.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
