When the Duke of Sussex last came home in September, there was a spring in his step. Over four days of engagements, the Prince Harry glower, which has often accompanied his rare trips back to the UK, was gone. In its place, smiles, laughter, hugs and handshakes, reminding many what an asset he once was to the monarchy.
His longed-for reunion with the King over a cup of tea at Clarence House — their first meeting in more than 18 months — suggested tentative beginnings of reconciliation. As a friend of Harry’s said of the visit: “He genuinely loved it. He wants to do more of that. He always loves seeing his father and would love to see him as much as possible.”
There will be less of a spring in his step when Harry returns in the coming days to face the final round in his long-running battle with the tabloid press, a crusade that has consumed him for years. Alongside public figures including Sir Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Baroness Lawrence, Harry is fighting Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, over historical allegations of phone-hacking and unlawful activities, which ANL strenuously denies.
Harry in Nottingham on his last UK visit in September
PAUL GROVER/DAILY TELEGRAPH/PA
A nine-week trial is scheduled to begin on January 19. Dates for witnesses are being finalised, but Harry is expected to give evidence early on.
It has not been plain sailing for Harry’s case. In November, Gavin Burrows, a former private investigator and previously one of the case’s key witnesses, said that a statement in which he allegedly claimed to have hacked voicemails, tapped landlines and accessed financial and medical information at the request of a Mail on Sunday journalist, was false.
While Harry is not relishing the prospect of giving evidence, sources close to him say he is feeling confident. One said: “It’s not a nice experience for anyone to find themselves in court. But he sees it as a necessary thing to do for a lot of reasons, a continuation of an ongoing mission, and he’s feeling confident going into it. He just wants to get through it and move on. [He hopes] justice will prevail.”
ANL’s legal team is also feeling bullish, and the gloves will come off in a courtroom showdown that may be uncomfortable viewing behind palace walls.
If Harry were to lose, he would probably face a legal bill in the millions and face public criticism for taking the case to trial.
There is also quiet confidence in Harry’s camp that he will soon have his right to armed police protection when he is in the UK reinstated. After losing a long legal battle with the government last year, he wrote to the home secretary, asking for a full risk assessment to be carried out. Last month, that request was granted and sources are hopeful that the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which makes the final decision on the level of police protection, will agree to the reinstatement.
A friend of Harry’s said: “We hope common sense prevails. Whether you like Harry or not, he’s the son of the King, brother to the heir and will one day be brother to the King. Those are things he can’t change and the risk doesn’t just stop.”
If the decision, expected soon, goes his way, Harry will turn his mind to when he can finally bring his family back to the UK, having previously said it was not safe to do so without police protection. The Duchess of Sussex has not visited the UK since September 2022 and Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, have not been here since June of that year, when the Sussexes visited for the late Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
Catherine, William, Harry and Meghan at Windsor two days after Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022. Below, meeting members of the public who had gathered outside the castle
CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY
KIRSTY O’CONNOR/PA
Despite strained relations between Harry and the royal family, the King misses his California-based grandchildren and the distance pains Harry. With Meghan’s permanent estrangement from her father, Thomas Markle, who lives in the Philippines, the children are unlikely to meet their other grandfather.
Harry and Charles will not reunite again this month, because Charles is still expected to be on his winter break in Scotland.
But the prince will return to the UK this summer, for engagements marking one year to go to the Invictus Games in Birmingham in July 2027. He will also attend the WellChild Awards which are held in London each September, and which he always attends. All eyes will be on whether his children accompany him on either trip.
A source said: “There will be all kinds of considerations, like the children’s school and other commitments. But if the security is sorted, then yes, of course that would open up the door to come back more with his family and bring the family over more. He’s been clear on that.
“His desire is to show his kids where he grew up and the UK. If security is sorted, he’ll want to sit down and think about what does that look like? How should we show up? We’d all hope for and love that to happen.”
Harry and Meghan at a Beyoncé concert in Los Angeles last year
Those close to the Sussexes dismiss the idea that Meghan will never return to the UK: “I think she would come back with him [and the children],” said a source. “They love to do stuff as a family whenever they can, and when they do things as a couple philanthropically, they often do take the kids along privately. I can’t see a reason why he’d come over with the kids without her.”
Preparation for the imminent trial has taken up much of the prince’s thoughts in recent months. Last year, there were murmurings of a new commercial venture in the pipeline, billed as a “social enterprise with a social conscience”, but that idea is no further along.
Reports that Meghan’s As Ever lifestyle range of raspberry spreads and rosé wines is flying off the shelves, with the duchess said to have shifted more than £26 million of her “signature fruit spread”, means the Sussexes’ coffers should be swelling.
In the meantime, Harry will continue to consider paid offers for speaking events. Freed from the restraints of being a working royal, he was recently paid to make the keynote speech at the Ontario Real Estate Association conference in Toronto.
The trial will force Harry to look back at difficult moments from his often-troubled past, but friends say he is already looking past the courtroom, to a time when he is finally free of litigation. “It has been a busy few months preparing for the case and he wants to see where the chips fall with the trial and his security,” said one. “There are a lot of things he’s not looking forward to with the trial. But beyond that, he’s really looking forward to the year ahead, he’s got an exciting programme coming up with all the stuff he loves doing — lots of work with his patronages.”
The prince, who served in the armed forces for ten years, will also return to Ukraine this year, a country he visited twice last year to support its military and veterans injured and affected by the war with Russia, and there are several other overseas visits scheduled.
Prince Harry will return to Ukraine this year to meet members of the military
YURII KOVALENKO/REUTERS
Since leaving the royal fold, Harry and Meghan have taken the Sussex brand to countries including Colombia and Nigeria, on trips that some royal watchers observe resemble official “royal tours”. Their three-day visit to Nigeria in May 2024, when the red carpet was rolled out for the couple and Meghan spoke of pride in her Nigerian heritage, may have nudged British diplomacy into action.
It can be revealed that the King and Queen will host the president of Nigeria on a state visit to the UK in March, the first such visit since 1989.
Those in palace circles will hope that the Sussexes’ foreign manoeuvres leave some clear daylight with other royal trips. In November, just minutes after the Prince of Wales arrived on Sugarloaf Mountain for his first engagement in Rio de Janeiro at the start of his visit to Brazil, Harry’s spokesman announced he was travelling to Canada for a series of events marking Remembrance Day.
Although the brothers have been estranged for more than three years — they have not spoken since September 2022 — such clashes still irk those in royal circles.
However Harry’s final courtroom drama ends, he will return to California to a life where he has seemingly settled into a rhythm of surfing, school runs and philanthropy.
But those who know him best say he is still happiest out on the road. A friend said: “He hates sitting in front of his computer. He loves to travel, he loves nothing more than getting around, on the ground, getting his hands dirty, meeting people, that’s when he’s most enjoying himself and at his best.
“It’s going to be a fun year.”
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