Experience – Queen Elizabeth has reportedly invited Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to vacation with her at Balmoral Castle
Queen Elizabeth II has invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to vacation with her at the royal family’s summer home in Scotland, Balmoral Castle, The Sun reports.
Balmoral Castle is a 50,000-acre private estate in the Scottish Highlands which is owned by the royal family. While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have never been photographed at the castle, they visited shortly after their royal wedding in May 2018, The Sunday Times reported.
According to The Sun, the Queen arrived at Balmoral on Thursday and she’s expected to stay at Craigowan Lodge, a seven-bedroom property on the estate, for 10 weeks.
“Staff have been told to expect the full list of royals including Harry, Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet,” an anonymous source, cited as a “Balmoral insider,” told The Sun.
The royal family picnicking at Balmoral Castle in Scotland
Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and their children picnicking at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Getty Images
“They are preparing for the Sussexes,” the source added.
“Balmoral is the perfect place for them to spend a little bit of quality time with the Queen,” another source told the publication, adding: “They barely had 15 minutes with her at the jubilee.”
The duke and duchess took their children, Archie and Lilibet, to London in June for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which marked the monarch’s 70th anniversary on the throne. But according to Us Weekly, the Sussex family’s reunion with Her Majesty was short in order to conserve the Queen’s energy.
“She was working very hard to maintain her strength,” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti told Us Weekly. “I think it’s totally understandable that she was saving her energy as best she could for all the events that she wanted to be at if she possibly could.”
It has not been confirmed if the Sussexes have received or accepted an invitation from the monarch.
Another anonymous source told The Sun that they would be “stunned” if Harry and Markle made the journey from their home in Santa Barbara, California, although they didn’t elaborate on why the Sussexes might not show up.
The couple’s relationship with the royal family has appeared to be strained for several years, with most of the media attention focused on Harry and Prince William’s rumored rift. They previously appeared to avoid speaking with one another at the Sussexes’ final royal engagement before their step back in 2020, and they didn’t interact at a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in June.
Representatives for Buckingham Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
