From Palaces to Hotels: Prince Harry to Spend Time in Britain Alone as 'Not a Single Family Member' Plans to See Him

The Duke of Sussex will travel to Britain alone on May 8, 2024.

May 1 2024, Published 12:30 p.m. ET

Prince Harry will be all alone when he visits the United Kingdom on May 8, as neither his wife, Meghan Markle, nor his estranged family members plan to accompany or see him. The Duke of Sussex will be in London to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of the Invictus Games at St Paul's Cathedral.

Royal expert Charlotte Griffiths told broadcaster Patrick Christys of GBN: "No senior members of the royal family are going to be there. That's where his parents got married. It's going to be a very somber and senior event."

Article continues below advertisement

In addition to where Harry and Meghan were booed in 2022, St Paul's Cathedral was the site of Prince Charles and Lady Diana's 'fairy-tale' royal wedding in 1981.

The iconic church, first built in the seventeenth century, was the site of the then-Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's legendary wedding in July 1981, which led to one of the "nastiest breakups in 1,200 years of British royal history." It is also where Harry and the Duchess of Sussex were infamously booed by crowds on the cathedral's grand steps in June 2022.

Despite painful memories, the fifth in line to the throne is expected to be "all smiles" as his "life's work" is honored in one of his home country's greatest landmarks.

Griffiths added: "It's a really important part of Harry's soul and the kind of thing he'd want his wife, maybe even his kids, by his side for."

Article continues below advertisement

The Duke of Sussex will travel to Britain alone on May 8, 2024.

"Meghan is leaving him there alone, and I just think he's going to cast a really lonely portrait of a man without his friends around him, without his family, and without senior members of the royal family," Griffiths observed. "And no wife there with him as well."

Christys replied: "Apparently no senior members of the royal family have got plans to see him at all?"

Griffiths answered: "He's staying in a hotel, he's not staying in a royal residence. I think he'll be here for a couple of days, not a week. I just don't think Meghan will let him out of her sight for that long. I think a couple of days is all he'll manage."

Article continues below advertisement

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will tour Nigeria in May 2024 at the invite of the African nation's government.

As for Meghan, Griffiths shared: "She will be in Montecito, prepping her outfits and getting ready for the tour [to Nigeria], but she didn't join him for the bit that really mattered. If she was to come to the U.K., it would be really difficult. It would bring up terrible memories of the past for her and awkward moments when she was in various churches and things."

The expert concluded: "But she's a strong and tough woman, we know that about her, and she's always telling us how brave she is. So if I were her, I would I'd be brave and walk up those steps. It would look great for her Netflix show anyway."

Article continues below advertisement

Prince Harry left the U.K. and the royal family in 2020.