Harry Returns to the U.K. for Prince Philip’s Funeral - The Cut

Prince Harry. Photo: ©Karwai Tang/WireImage

Prince Harry arrived in the U.K. on Sunday in preparation for his grandfather’s funeral next week. Prince Philip died Friday morning at the age of 99, and Harry is expected to participate in the ceremony on April 17, after he completes a five-day quarantine period at Frogmore House in Windsor.

Harry has not been back to the U.K. since March 2020, when he and Meghan Markle completed their duties as senior royals at the Commonwealth Day service. Relations between Harry and his family have reportedly been particularly frosty in the aftermath of the interview he and Meghan gave Oprah, in which the couple recalled certain members raising “concerns about how dark [Archie’s] skin would be” before he was born. After the special aired, Harry is said to have started (not-so-productive) conversations with Princes Charles and William, although unnamed tabloid sources recently claimed that William has accused his brother “of putting fame over family after the big interview.”

Still, a source told Vanity Fair that “Harry has been in touch with his father, and his brother, and his grandmother,” and that “he was told about his grandfather’s death at the same time as the rest of the family and he is grieving just like the rest of them.” The Duke of Sussex will walk alongside William in the funeral procession from Windsor Castle to St. George’s Chapel.

Meghan, meanwhile, reportedly made “every effort” to fly to the U.K. with Harry, but because she is pregnant — the couple’s second child is due this summer — her physician declined medical clearance for the trip. As for the funeral itself, the public has been asked not to attend, in deference to coronavirus protocols.